1st-and-10: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Senior writer Jake Kocorowski breaks down 10 things to watch for and know before the No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers travel to Lincoln for a Saturday matchup with Nebraska.

Many have seen the Monday tweet regarding outside linebacker Zack Baun's thoughts on the rivalry. Later that day, I transcribed the full question and answer as well for fuller context, but I will put it here once again for reference:

Q: Is there any kind of added pressure that it's a Big Ten West game, another trophy game?

Baun: "Uh, no pressure. It's just another game, another football game. The trophy's never left here, so I don't think it's a rivalry yet. Maybe it was before, but it definitely isn't anymore."

(Also regarding Baun laughing at the beginning of the answer, inside linebacker Chris Orr walked up behind reporters right before that answer and pretended he was filming his fellow redshirt senior.)

OK, that's explained. Just because Baun believes this game is not a rivalry does not mean he or the team are not taking this matchup seriously. The entire team mantra this season has been focusing in on one game at a time and respecting each opponent. I still hold that to be true, especially based on Orr's remarks earlier this year after the Michigan game after previous comments from both the Wolverines and Central Michigan.

“I think it certainly is a big game for us," head coach Paul Chryst said on Monday. "I don’t know that you would have had to put a trophy along with it. Certainly a ton of respect for that program. I do think this as the conference, once it’s split up, you don’t play every team every year. Therefore the teams that you do play every year, for us the Big Ten West opponents, I think that there naturally is, I don’t know if rivalry is the right word, but they’re big games and you know those players. You’ve competed against them. Often times you’ve gone against that staff before, and this is the same there.

"I think it’s a big game and certainly we know it’s a trophy game, but like I said, I don’t think that the trophy makes it big as much as you know it’s a really good football team. To give yourself a chance to win, you’ve got to play well. I think those are the things that really make a player and a coach feel this is important.”

When asked by a reporter what this rivalry means to him, junior running back Jonathan Taylor said, "It means a lot."

"Whenever there is something on the line, we always want to win. The biggest thing is it's going to be a tough environment. The crowd gets very loud there. It's going to be a good environment so we got to make sure that we're focused, locked in and we don't have many procedural penalties and don't hurt ourselves."

Since the Huskers joined the Big Ten from the Big 12 Conference in 2011, the Badgers have dominated the series in a 7-1 fashion. That includes six straight wins dating back to the 2012 Big Ten Championship game.

Playing inside historic Memorial Stadium, UW holds a 2-1 mark since 2011.

Introduced in 2014, the teams will once again be playing for the Freedom Trophy. Wisconsin has not lost possession of it since its inception and has had a 100-yard rushing effort in every game except one. For that matter, there have been three performances where a Badger has gone over 200 yards individually in that category as well (more on that latter).