Wisconsin ripped off its third straight victory, and its second straight road win in conference play with a 23-3 dismantling of Northwestern on Saturday. Now, the Badgers gear up to host their second top-five opponent this season, the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions.

As the Badgers look to extend their winning streak to four games, what questions surround the program?

An unstoppable force meets an unmovable object in Madison? Maybe not quite — neither team has been that dominant in their respective categories. Still, yet another conference clash will come down to the trenches, a place where both teams have thrived. More specifically, Wisconsin's offensive line and Penn State's front seven have been excellent.

The Badgers' big men up front have paved the way for a dangerous rushing attack led by Tawee Walker, and mostly kept quarterback Braedyn Locke upright, both major catalysts for Wisconsin's improved play on offense. Over the past three weeks, Wisconsin has ran for 736 yards, and average of 245 yards-per-game on the ground.

“I know it's easier for guys to say, ‘Well, there's got to be a reason why you're winning and there's got to be a reason why you're running the football better.’ And I can honestly say, I just think that guys are continuing to play better together," head coach Luke Fickell said of the offensive line's play.

Meanwhile, Penn State has an elite defensive nucleus in the front seven. Players like linebacker Kobe King and defensive end Abdul Carter are some of the several players from that unit who will be playing on Sundays. The Nittany Lions only surrender 95 yards-per-game on the ground, good for 10th in the nation.

"This week, it's a little bit different in the sense that you don't know exactly where they're going to be. They're going to move all around. They've got really, really good athletes. I think, obviously, that's where the strength of their team is," Fickell said in regards to Penn State's front seven.

The trenches, particularly when Wisconsin has the ball, is where this game will be won or lost. If the Badgers' offensive line is overwhelmed by Penn State, they'll have little hope of keeping pace with the Nittany Lions.

One of the reasons Penn State has managed to roll through its schedule with only two close calls on its way to 6-0 has been a propensity for taking care of the football. The Nittany Lions have protected the ball, and while their turnover margin of +2 isn't that impressive, that has more to do with their lack of turnovers generated on defense.

Quarterback Drew Allar has thrown four interceptions. Still, three of those came in one game against USC, and that looks like an outlier, as in his previous 18 starts he'd thrown just three picks combined. He's also been highly efficient, completing 70.5 percent of his passes this fall.

Meanwhile, Penn State has just one fumble lost (compare that to Wisconsin's conference-leading seven). Simply put, the Nittany Lions don't give the ball away.

Wisconsin will likely need to change that in order to pull off the upset win. A night game in Madison could be just what the doctor ordered in that regard. Recall the last time the Badgers hosted the No. 3 team in the country at night — last season against Ohio State, Wisconsin forced quarterback Kyle McCord into three turnovers, matching his previous total on the season.

The Badgers have came a long way in three weeks; this is a completely different team than the one that sat at a listless 2-2 at the end of September. Still, beating Penn State straight up is a tall task. Wisconsin will need to steal some possessions and give themselves some short fields Saturday night.

Penn State's passing game has taken very tangible steps forward in year one under new play-caller Andy Kotelnicki. Allar's completion percentage has jumped from 59.9 to 70.5. His yards-per-attempt has also spiked, going from 6.8 to 10.2. The coordinator has opened up this passing game, but that has yet to yield many results for Nittany Lion wide receivers.

For senior tight end Tyler Warren, however, it's been a different story. His 40 catches for 513 yards easily leads the team, and the his yards-per-game of 85.5 checks in at fourth in the conference. Last week against USC, he was nothing short of unstoppable, reeling in a whopping 17 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown.

It'll be fascinating to see how Wisconsin elects to guard the 6-foot-6, 257-pound Warren. He spends about 46 percent of his time lined up in the slot, per Pro Football Focus, so he'll likely line up on the Badgers' nickel defenders. That means he'll see some combination of Austin Brown, Preston Zachman and Max Lofy.

It would likely behoove Wisconsin to lean towards Brown and Zachman in the slot against Warren. He's still a mismatch for both players, as he has about five inches and 50 pounds on both. But that's better than the eight inches and 70 pounds he has on Lofy.

Safety Hunter Wohler also seems like one of the Badgers' best options in defense of Warren. The safety can match his physicality if not his body type, and Wohler could try to jam him up at the line of scrimmage when he lines up in-line.

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