BadgerBlitz.com's weekly feature, "The 3 Cs," returns for the 2024 season. The staff takes a look at one thing we're curious, confident and concerned about heading into Wisconsin's Week 7 showdown with Rutgers.

Staff writers Seamus Rohrer and Donnie Slusher each give their thoughts on the aforementioned topics for this week's contest.

ROHRER: I'm curious to see if Wisconsin can continue to find increased success with its pass-rush.

It's no secret that the Scarlet Knights will lean on their ground game. Rutgers plays old-school football; everyone in the stadium knows they want to run the ball. The question is, can you stop it? The Scarlet Knights throw the football 42.09 percent of the time, which is 29th-lowest in the nation.

Still, making quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis uncomfortable will be a critical part of the defensive game-plan as well. Last week against Nebraska, the gunslinger dropped back to pass 47 times and was pressured on a whopping 29 of those drop-backs, or 62 percent, per Pro Football Focus. That led to easily his worst game of the season, as he tossed for 186 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while completing just 40.5 percent of his passes.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin's pass-rush seemingly began to find some footing last week. Backup outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks came through with 1.5 sacks, and inside backer Jaheim Thomas logged a quarterback takedown as well.

Rutgers is going to run the ball, and given its dynamic tailback and the Badgers' middling run defense, it'll likely have success. That's why it'll be critical for Wisconsin to win on whatever passing downs it does force and make Kaliakmanis' life miserable from the pocket. If Rutgers running game starts humming and Kaliakmanis has time to pick apart the Badgers' defense? Wisconsin will have no shot.

SLUSHER: I’m curious to see how the running backs look against a better run defense.

The backs had a great day against Purdue, rushing for 228 yards and four touchdowns on 5.6 yards-per-carry as a team. But Phil Longo could’ve put on pads and picked up a few chunk plays against that Boilermaker run defense.

Tawee Walker, who’s taken over Chez Mellusi’s spot as the top dog in the room, led the way with 19 rushes for 94 yards and three touchdowns. He’s a strong, bruising back, but his early season injury is still clearly restraining his burst. He’s not matching the speed we saw on certain runs during offseason camps.

It didn’t really matter against Purdue, when he could pick up five yards before even being touched whenever he wanted to, but they won’t play another run defense that bad for the rest of the year.

Let’s say they’re trying to get Walker going in the first half and he’s not having that same success. The coaches are gonna have to lean on their younger, less experienced backs.

Freshman Darrion Dupree has risen to that secondary back position behind Walker, but has yet to truly break out. He’s ran for 24 yards three separate times this year but hasn’t passed that mark.

They should give more attention to redshirt sophomore Cade Yacamelli, who, despite averaging 7.4 yards per carry, can’t seem to crack more than eight carries in a game.

Rutgers’ run defense is one of the worst in the Big Ten, giving up 157.6 rushing yards per game, but they’re not push-overs. If Walker faces trouble early, they’re gonna have to lean on their younger backs.

ROHRER: I'm confident that you'll continue to see a healthy dose of both Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis at inside linebacker.

Now, the two starters Jake Chaney and Jaheim Thomas have played much better in recent weeks. They're seemingly playing more freely and instinctively, as if things are slowing down a bit. Still, the Badgers have utilized Alliegro and Curtis more in recent weeks, and it's paid dividends.

In Week 1, Curtis didn't see the field at all and Alliegro only saw 10 snaps. Curtis then began to get more involved in the following games while replacing Chaney during his targeting ejection. But in the past two games against USC and Purdue, both Curtis and Alliegro each played at least 17 snaps in both contests.

That's allowed Wisconsin to keep its inside backers fresher, and also allows defensive coordinator Mike Tressel to add wrinkles to his scheme when his players with different skillsets are in the game. Alliegro, for example, has two sacks, as he's adept at blitzing up the A and B gaps.

Against Rutgers, Wisconsin is going to need all of the manpower it has in the front seven. The Scarlet Knights will repeatedly run right at the Badgers defense, attempting to soften them up and wear them down. Rutgers will run handoff after handoff to its staple of talented backs in an attempt to bludgeon the Badgers into submission. Wisconsin will constantly need fresh bodies in the front seven, and therefore, expect plenty of Alliegro and Curtis.

SLUSHER: I’m confident that Trech Kekahuna will remain a prominent member of the offense.

Beyond the glamor of the 52-point performance, the most important outcome from Saturday was that we now know Kekahuna is a real-deal threat.

His talent appeared in bursts throughout the early part of the season, entering last Saturday with just four catches for 42 yards, but he showed that he probably should’ve been a focal point of the offense from the go

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for his involvement has been Will Pauling, who’s the best receiver on the team and just so happens to also play in the slot. It’s difficult for Wisconsin to be a heavy personnel, run-first team and also consistently play two slot receivers.

It essentially took Pauling’s injury for Kekahuna to get the kind of involvement he deserved.

But now that Kekahuna has had that type of performance, they can’t just go back to treating him like how they used to. It doesn’t matter if it takes jet sweeps or bubble screens or any gimmick, he’s simply too talented and explosive to keep on ice.

It seems like the offense had been desperate for the type of spark that Kekahuna provided last Saturday. Even Pauling, who has been Wisconsin’s best receiving threat since last season, hasn’t played to his potential.

If things are bumpy early against Rutgers, Longo knows who he can turn to for a quick jumpstart.

ROHRER: I'm concerned that Wisconsin will have no answer for Rutgers' ground game.

This is an obvious concern given the Scarlet Knights' style of play, their star tailback Kyle Monangai and the Badgers' lack of juice in run defense. It's easily the biggest key to the game.

Wisconsin surrenders 136.8 yards-per-game on the ground, placing them at 65th nationally. That's incredibly average, and Rutgers has proven it takes more than average to contain its rushing attack.

Nebraska was able to do it last week, but the Huskers boast the 9th-ranked run defense in the nation. The Badgers, meanwhile, have looked lost at times in their run fits regardless of the competition, from South Dakota to Alabama.

Maybe this is the week. Maybe this looks like a vintage Wisconsin defense at SHI Stadium, with Badgers' defenders flying into gaps and blowing up blocks to stymie Monangai and company. But this team has given me no reason to think it can stop any competent ground game, let alone the 23rd-best rushing offense in the country.

SLUSHER: I’m concerned by Wisconsin’s lack of pass rush.

The Badgers holding Purdue to just six points is a great milestone for them, but let’s not act like that was some sort of dominant defensive performance.

Wisconsin’s pass rush, if you can even call it that, was laughable against the Boilermakers. Quarterback Hudson Card could’ve taken a nap in the pocket on certain plays.

Luckily for the Badgers, he just wasn’t good enough to truly make them pay. Any quarterback who’s better than Card, and there are a lot of them on Wisconsin’s schedule, will take greater advantage of that level of ineptitude.

Kaliakmanis is a much better quarterback than the one Wisconsin played in the Axe Game last season. They can’t let him be comfortable in the pocket while also trying to stop Monongai on the ground. They’ll get devoured.

The obvious take is that the Badgers simply aren’t getting what they need from their edge rushers.

After the outside linebacker room was incredibly thin last season, they brought in multiple promising transfers who haven’t panned out.

Syracuse transfer Leon Lowery finally made an impact, finishing the day with four pressures after entering with just two, per PFF. John Pius, who came from William and Mary, has just seven pressures on the season.

Interior lineman Elijah Hills was a low-profile transfer from Albany and he’s already passed both of them in pressures with 10.

Against Purdue, they couldn’t even make it home with four rushers.

It wouldn’t be the craziest idea for defensive coordinator Mike Tressel to just send more pressure. They have multiple inside linebackers who are athletic enough to rush the passer, which is something we saw frequently in offseason camps.

At this point, the Badgers allowing quarterbacks to stand comfortably in the pocket for seven seconds is more frustrating than if they left a checkdown open.

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