Wisconsin is set to kick off its 2024 campaign against Western Michigan in just a few short days. After a long offseason of speculation and hypotheticals, we finally have a real game to talk about.

The Badgers will welcome the Broncos to Camp Randall Stadium on Friday night under the lights. As kickoff draws closer, what are three burning questions surrounding the program and matchup with Western Michigan?

Western Michigan isn't exactly awash with playmakers that keep you up at night, but redshirt sophomore halfback Jalen Buckley likely comes closest to that description. After a quiet freshman season, Buckley exploded onto the scene last fall with 1,003 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on a healthy 5.3 yards-per-carry. He also added 18 catches for 161 yards through the air.

Buckley did have some quiet performances last fall — Iowa's impervious defense, for example, contained him to the tune of 14 carries for 30 yards. However, the tailback also had some massive games, such as his 196-yard, two-touchdown performance against what was a solid Toledo defense. That's exactly why Buckley will be such a good litmus test for the Badgers. If Wisconsin can contain Buckley's impact and keep him under two or three yards-per-carry, it'll bode well for the Badgers' rushing defense this fall.

It's also worth noting that the Broncos are working with a new offensive coordinator in Walt Bell. Bell was the play-caller at Indiana before he was fired with seven games to go in the 2023 season. Before he was fired, however, Bell tended to deploy his halfbacks pretty evenly. Oftentimes, the Hoosiers' backfield was a committee regardless of the game situation. Western Michigan has a talented second-string tailback in Zahir Abdus-Salaam; does Bell continue his trend of splitting up backfield reps? It's possible the Badgers get a healthy dose of both running backs Friday night.

If all goes according to plan — and against a MAC team at home in Week 1, the plan is to win and win comfortably — Wisconsin shouldn't need to scramble much with in-game adjustments. Nonetheless, this was an area that the Badgers struggled with last season, something head coach Luke Fickell readily admitted in his weekly presser.

“If I would say anything about last year, that's where I think, after Week 1 and 2, I did recognize one of our shortcomings was our ability to problem solve as things changed, as things changed within a game, as things change from the start of a game," he said. "Because I felt like last year, we were really good with the things we prepared for, but we were not nearly as good with the things that we hadn't prepared for. So that comes down to what you prepare, but your ability and maturity wise to be able to problem solve. And I think we'll get a great look at that in Week 1.”

Again, as the team with superior talent across the board, the Badgers shouldn't be scrambling for answers come game time. But in Week 1, they're going to see some things they haven't prepared for. That's especially true considering the fact that Western Michigan has no less than three new coordinators. It's also only head coach Lance Taylor's second season in Kalamazoo.

It'll also be interesting to see how Wisconsin's opening scripts play out. Simply put, the Badgers came out flat in game after game last fall, and though they often battled back, that ultimately spelled doom in many a contest. It also didn't get better as the season went on — Wisconsin allowed opening drive touchdowns on its final four regular season games.

Very rarely is Week 1 a sparkling, flawless performance. Especially in this era of college football, where large portions of rosters are comprised of transfers and much of a team's chemistry is constructed on the fly, there will be some hiccups in the opener. Be that as it may, another performance reminiscent of Fickell's debut last season would raise some concerns about just how dialed in this team really is.

In last year's opener against Buffalo, Wisconsin struggled in all kinds of areas. Tanner Mordecai threw two interceptions and was far from efficient. Meanwhile, Buffalo didn't turn the ball over once. Likewise, not only did the Badgers fail to record a takeaway, they couldn't even sack Bulls' quarterback Cole Snyder a single time. Wisconsin ultimately got the win, but against a team you're supposed to beat handily, it's supposed to look prettier than that.

Last year, both the Badgers' offense and defense was a work in progress for essentially the entire season. Can this team come out with a strong sense of identity? That will also be critical in limiting the negative and sloppy plays. This coaching staff appears to be much more familiar with its personnel; that should also help in that regard.

Wisconsin doesn't need to absolutely eviscerate the Broncos for it to be a convincing victory. It doesn't even need to play mistake-free football — again, that's not easy to do in Week 1. But that uneasy feeling you got watching the Badgers clumsily beat Buffalo last year? If that resurfaces, alarms begin to go off.

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