Wisconsin is set for its final buy game of the season, as FCS South Dakota will come to town Saturday afternoon.

As kickoff draws closer, what are three burning questions surrounding the program and matchup with the Coyotes?

This is an all-encompassing question, but it's an important one. Wisconsin was 24-point favorites against Western Michigan, and not only did it fail to cover, the game itself was incredibly close for comfort. The Broncos led by one point early in the fourth quarter, and for a split second between Wisconsin punting the ball while down and the Badgers pouncing on the muffed punt, it looked as if the game was Western Michigan's to lose.

"What we didn't do a good enough job of is getting the ability to get the home field advantage into play. That's on us," head coach Luke Fickell said Monday. "I think if there's one thing that really kind of stands out to me that we need to do a better job of, is taking advantage of what we've got in that atmosphere. We weren't able to get rolling, just by the nature of what the game was."

Now, despite the Badgers being heavy favorites, Western Michigan is still a respectable opponent. It's not uncommon at all for MAC teams to upset Big Ten teams. South Dakota, however, is a different story. The Coyotes are an FCS team, and while they're a good FCS program, they hail from a lower level of football. Anything less than a complete blowout would be cause for concern.

Wisconsin must create big plays on offense. It must be able to throw the ball down the field. It must make life miserable Coyotes quarterback Aidan Bouman. Simply put, the Badgers need to obliterate South Dakota for there to be any optimism heading into Alabama the following week.

Although it's clearly more nuanced, one could divide Wisconsin's top two quarterbacks into two neat categories: Braedyn Locke, the brains, and Tyler Van Dyke, the brawn.

Locke's strength is his football mind and mastery of offensive coordinator Phil Longo's scheme. Van Dyke, meanwhile, won the starting job largely because of his physical attributes — stronger arm, imposing stature and mobility. However, the Miami transfer needs to take a page out of Locke's book following his performance against Western Michigan and dial in mentally.

Van Dyke made some poor decisions throwing into coverage in Week 1 that were alarmingly reminiscent of his second and third years with the Hurricanes. Especially when the Badgers got close to the goal line, the quarterback appeared to get looser with his reads.

“I think it starts with taking care of the ball. I think he made some really good decisions. The red zone is the one spot where I think he started to maybe force some things, and we were fortunate [that] the balls hit the other guys' hands. And then in those situations, that's what we can't do," Fickell said.

Overall, Van Dyke orchestrated a very vanilla offense. The longest play went for 17 yards, and the Badgers only tried to take a deep shot once. According to Pro Football Focus, Wisconsin attempted just two passes 20-plus yards down the field.

"I think he took what was given to him. He wasn't overly aggressive in Week 1, where you think you've got to be the guy to make all the plays and pull the ball and throw the ball down the field. Let's take what they give you. Let's make sure we stick to the game plan. And he really did those things. Now we're going to continue to grow. And put him in some more situations where there's going to be more shots, there's going to be more opportunities," Fickell continued.

It's important to remember that Friday night was Van Dyke's first game in his fourth offense in as many years. For a system as complicated as Longo's, there's going to be a learning curve. Regardless, Van Dyke needs to show development within the scheme and keep the ball out of harm's way against South Dakota.

Game flow has a lot to do with the answer to this question. If Wisconsin manages to jump out to an early, comfortable lead, it'll likely go deeper into its rotation at several positions. But several players who are further down the pecking order at their respective positions demonstrated that they're deserving of more snaps in Week 1. Slot receiver Trech Kekahuna, who looked like the most dynamic offensive weapon the Badgers have, is one of those players.

"So he will continue to get more and more (playing time). It's kind of unique that he and Will (Pauling) play in similar positions and again, the game kind of led the way it did. And we had a plan that we wanted to be physical, so there weren't going to be as many opportunities," Fickell said. "You see him in Week 1, that you know, when there's an opportunity and the ball’s in his hand, he can be electrifying. We have to continue to build that trust and put him in those situations, to allow him to be himself."

Fickell went on to mention the redshirt freshman's fumble on a kickoff return that the Badgers were lucky to recover. Ball security is a non-negotiable, but Kekahuna's innate ability simply demands that he touch the ball.

Another one of those players is defensive lineman Elijah Hills, who isn't a starter but made the biggest impact of any Badger defensive lineman, registering the lone sack and tackle-for-loss on the night.

"It just was one of those situations where there's only 53 plays, and the rotation didn't allow to get as many of those guys in. Dillan Johnson's got to play more. Elijah Hills has got to play more," Fickell said. "I think just our ability to make sure that we'll continue to roll those guys through, because it's physical in there, and whether there's 50 or 60 plays in the game, you know, we've got to do a better job at balancing, making sure the attacks get in there."

Four-receiver sets with Pauling and Kekahuna would give defenses fits. And as for the much-maligned defensive line, whoever is making plays needs more snaps.

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