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The 3Cs: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers

BadgerBlitz.com's weekly feature, "The 3Cs," returns for the 2019 season. The staff takes a look at one thing we're curious, confident and concerned about heading into No. 13 Wisconsin's match-up on Saturday with No. 9 Minnesota.

Editor and recruiting analyst Jon McNamara and senior writer Jake Kocorowski each give their thoughts on the aforementioned topics for this week.

CURIOUS

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McNamara: Do we continue to see some of the new offensive wrinkles (ie: Aron Cruickshank in the Wildcat, etc.), or was that window dressing for the Minnesota coaching staff to plan for? And even if head coach Paul Chryst and offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph want to use some exotic looks, will do they do so after watching the turnovers against Purdue? The Badgers would certainly prefer to line up and pound the football in a traditional manner, but this could be a contest where both teams dig deep into their respective playbooks.

Kocorowski: I’m curious, perhaps borderline concerned, how Wisconsin will contain Minnesota’s ground game. With how much pub the Gophers’ passing attack receives (as it should with two 1,000 yards receivers and one of the nation's most efficient quarterbacks), we have seen the Badgers in the past five outings give up big yards to Illinois’ Reggie Corbin, Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins and Nebraska’s Dedrick Mills.

Rodney Smith has rushed for over 1,000 yards this season on over five yards per carry, and behind him, Mohamed Ibrahim and Shannon Brooks form a three-headed backfield that could spell trouble. In what could be a blustery, ground-orientated game, I wonder how defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard and his players scheme to keep this aspect of Minnesota’s offense contained.

CONFIDENT

McNamara: I’m confident the Badgers will be able to run the ball against Minnesota, especially in the expected wintry conditions. Including a season-high 403 yards against Purdue, Wisconsin has put together three straight games with at least 300 rushing yards. A big part of that is the offensive line, which seems to be solidified with David Moorman at left guard, in addition to Cormac Sampson’s presence as a blocking tight end. In five games against teams ranked in the top 30 nationally in rushing defense, UW has averaged 232.6 yards. The Gophers come into this contest ranked No. 27 (123.8 yards per game).

Kocorowski: With all that’s on the line on Saturday -- Paul Bunyan’s Axe and a share of the Big Ten West division championship that will send them to the conference championship game -- I believe this team will be focused heading into TCF Bank Stadium. When talking to a couple of players and even Rudolph, one message revolved around focus. Inside linebacker Chris Orr recalled the anger he had after Minnesota took the Axe inside Camp Randall Stadium last year on UW’s Senior Day. As much as I think the energy will definitely be there, the team will be honed in on the task at hand.

CONCERNED

McNamara: It has to Minnesota’s wide receivers. Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman and Chris Autman-Bell have combined for 141 catches, 2,396 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. Those numbers stack up with some of the top aerial attacks in the country: LSU (top three receivers have 167 catches for 2,719 yards and 35 TDs), Alabama (158 catches for 2,673 yards and 28 TDs), Clemson (108 catches for 1,708 yards and 18 TDs) and Ohio State (110 catches for 1,586 yards and 23 TDs). With Faion Hicks’ status still up in the air (questionable with a head injury), I think this is Minnesota’s biggest advantage against Wisconsin.

Kocorowski: Jon already took my No. 1 thought, so I’ll go to the flip side of the game. Wisconsin needs to protect the ball on the road this week. It coughed up the ball four times against Purdue at home last week and even had two more fumbles that were ultimately recovered by UW. On top of that, we saw what happened against Illinois in the second half with turnovers helping to lead to a monumental upset.

Minnesota has 17 takeaways this season. Wisconsin cannot allow P.J. Fleck’s program to gain any excess energy and momentum if it hopes to pull off the road win in Minneapolis.

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