The No. 10 Wisconsin Badgers (3-0) will host the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, with both teams coming off of a bye week. To get the inside scoop on the Wildcats, we asked Louie Vaccher of WildcatReport.com a few questions about their season so far and what UW fans should expect to see this weekend.
Our questions and Louie's answers are included below.
What do you think we know about this Northwestern team through three games this year? They have the two wins over non-power five FBS teams and the loss to Duke - is that about where you expected them to be at this point in the season?
Louie Vaccher: In my opinion, the Wildcats have been a disappointment so far this season. It’s not so much their record as their performance. They had an up-and-down opener against Nevada, an embarrassing loss at Duke and a blowout of a bad Bowling Green team. There’s no shame in that loss to Duke in Durham; it was more about the way they lost, getting whipped in every phase. That 41-17 final score was closer than the game really was. The Wildcats looked sharp in all phases against BG, but the Falcons were just overmatched and not a good barometer.
Northwestern has been an inconsistent team so far, suffering from inopportune penalties, missed tackles and one-man breakdowns on the offensive line. They’re also minus-2 in turnovers. In short, they have a lot to clean up if they want to win on Saturday.
On paper at least it looks like the Wildcats were able to bring some talented players back from last year - I’m thinking of Clayton Thorson and Justin Jackson in particular. But they did lose Austin Carr - is he the biggest piece of the offense that NU had to replace? What did you expect to see from this group relative to what they did last year?
Louie Vaccher: Losing Carr was definitely a blow, but Northwestern is trying to replace him by committee. Wide receivers have had trouble beating man coverage at times, especially against Duke, and that hamstrings the offense as it allows the defense to devote an extra man to the box to focus on Jackson and the ground game. I think the biggest area of concern for the offense, however, is the offensive line. They were overwhelmed against Duke, and Wisconsin represents a much tougher test.
Jackson was spectacular against Nevada and Bowling Green; he had a career-low with 18 yards against Duke, but he was banged up and didn’t get any help. Jackson, who is 108 yards short of the Northwestern career rushing mark, will once again be the key for Northwestern’s offense. Thorson has had some struggles, but he is still the Big Ten’s leading passer right now. In my opinion, Thorson and Jackson are as good as any quarterback-running back combination in the league, save for perhaps McSorley and Barkley at Penn State.
From an outsider’s perspective it seems like the Wildcats need to get Jackson going for their offense to really start to click. Does that seem right to you, or is there a different X-factor that the Badgers will see this weekend?
Louie Vaccher: You’re right that as Jackson goes, so go the Wildcats. However, in order to get him going, Northwestern usually has to make some plays through the air. Wisconsin, like most of NU’s opponents, will probably load up to stop the run early in the game. So Thorson and his receivers will have to make some plays down the field to loosen up the defense and force those safeties back. That’s when Jackson can really get his game going. When Northwestern is balanced, the offense can be very productive; if they are one-dimensional, however, they will struggle.
Who are the players to keep an eye on when Northwestern is on defense, and what have you seen out of this unit through three games this year?
Louie Vaccher: There are a couple things to watch on defense. The first is the pass rush. The Wildcats have just four sacks on the year, and they will have to put pressure on Alex Hornibrook in order to be successful. He’s completing 70 percent of his passes and is coming off of an 18-for-19 game, so Northwestern can’t give him time to pick them apart. The second area to watch, which is closely related, is cornerback. Northwestern has lost three of its top six corners for the season, including expected starter Keith Watkins II right before the opener. Hopefully the position is settled now that Trae Williams and Marcus McShepard are back, but there is still a walk-on graduate transfer from Robert Morris (Moe Almasri) on the two-deep. We will see if the corner situation impacts how often NU blitzes Wisconsin, too.
Finally, what do you expect to see this weekend when these two teams meet up? Who wins and why?
Louie Vaccher: I have a feeling that Northwestern will play better than expected on Saturday. The Wildcats needed that big win over Bowling Green to give them some confidence after the disastrous trip to Duke. They also tend to play better as road underdogs. Still, there remain a lot of questions about this team, which has yet to play clean football consistently. Plus, the Wildcats have already played a record 13 true or redshirt freshmen this year, and many of them will make their Big Ten debuts on Saturday. Camp Randall Stadium is not exactly a welcoming place for rookies.
I won’t throw a score out yet – I make my official prediction on Friday – but I’m going to pick Wisconsin in this one.
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.
