Wisconsin and Minnesota mirror each other in many ways this season. Both programs boast defenses that are ranked highly in the Big Ten and the FBS in several categories. The two rivals also like to control the clock on offense and utilize their run games to great success.
The Badgers and the Gophers also have faced adversity in that latter similarity, particularly in the offensive backfield with numbers dwindling at one particular position. Tailbacks Jalen Berger, Antwan Roberts and Loyal Crawford are no longer a part of the UW program, though Berger was the only one expected to contribute in 2021. However, Isaac Guerendo and Chez Mellusi saw their seasons ended prematurely with injuries during its seven-game winning streak. True freshman phenom Braelon Allen and fourth-year junior Brady Schipper, along with third-year sophomore Julius Davis are among those remaining in Gary Brown's room.
On the other side of the Mississippi River, Minnesota lost All-Big back Mohamed Ibrahim during its season-opening loss to now-No. 4 Ohio State. Redshirt sophomore Trey Potts averaged over 110 yards per game before suffering a season-ending internal injury against Purdue on Oct. 2. Redshirt junior Bryce Williams then left the win over Northwestern, its eighth game of the year on Oct. 30, with a leg injury that required him to miss the rest of the 2021 campaign.
On top of that, redshirt sophomore Cam Wiley elected to enter the transfer portal in mid-October.
And yet, like Wisconsin, Minnesota continues to churn out yards on the ground in an extremely productive manner. It gains 204.3 yards per game, good for 23rd in the FBS and third in the Big Ten. That's not too far off from the Badgers' 229.4 yards per contest, which stands atop the conference and ninth overall in the nation.
Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard pointed to Minnesota's commitment that has allowed its offense to persevere with its rushing attack.
"That’s what they do," Leonhard said on Monday. "Their scheme, what they do as far as their offensive linemen, how they block things, they have a true identity. They know who they are. They know what they’re good at, and everything builds off of it so that commitment to the run game helps them a ton. Their running backs, I think, they are trained very well on what they’re asked to do. They’re not always cute. They’re going to get downhill, they’re going to force you to tackle them, and then they have their little wrinkles to try to create a little bit of extra space when they need it.
"Commitment to the scheme, commitment to running the football and building your gameplans around that. I think they are well-coached in how they run the football. They’re a load. It doesn’t matter who’s in there, you see the execution. It may make you nervous any time you see a team that is that committed to something. They have an identity. They know who they are. You know you’ve got to go beat them at what they do best. They don’t get spooked out of that."
UW has averaged 267.1 yards per contest on the ground during Wisconsin's seven-game winning streak, and Allen emerged with 1,013 yards and 11 touchdowns in that span. That included a career-high 228 yards on 22 carries with three rushing scores during last week's win over Nebraska.
Minnesota has utilized youth in its backfield with Ky Thomas and Mar'Keise Irving. Thomas, a redshirt freshman from Topeka, Kan., holds four 100-yard rushing days this season on way to 625 yards on 4.9 yards per carry and four touchdowns. Irving, a true freshman and former Wisconsin recruiting target, went over the century mark against Maryland and Northwestern. The Chicago, Ill., product currently ranks third on the team in rushing yards (531) and has gained 5.2 yards per attempt with four touchdowns of his own.
The duo ran for 175 combined rushing yards and three touchdowns last week at Indiana and 206 yards in a loss at Iowa on Nov. 13. Minnesota has rushed for 180 or more yards in eight of its 11 games played and achieved that milestone in five of its last six. The Gophers ran for 326 and 308 yards against Maryland and Northwestern, respectively, during that latter time frame.
Credit should also be given to Minnesota's offensive line. Pro Football Focus (PFF) currently grades starting linemen John Michael Schmitz, Blaise Andries and Daniel Faalele at 80.0 or above heading into this week's matchup against Wisconsin (3 p.m. CT, FOX). All have played over 700 snaps this season, according to the service.
Inside linebacker Jack Sanborn again pointed to Minnesota's identity in continuing that run game's success with its various backs used.
"That’s what it comes down to is that when you have an identity, you know who you are," Sanborn said on Monday. "You know what you’re going to do. And you plug them in, piece them in. Their coaches do a great job at making their players understand the scheme, understand what scheme they’re running and the ball carriers make it reality and go in there understanding what their job is, what the goal of each play is, where this should hit, how the linemen are blocking it. They have that identity and they know what they’re going to do. They’ve done a good job at it so far."
Though not eye-popping numbers, Minnesota also averages 163.5 yards per game through the air, good for 117th in the nation. Quarterback Tanner Morgan will face Wisconsin for the fourth time in his collegiate career. The fifth-year senior has completed 58.8% of his throws for 1,736 yards with nine touchdowns to seven interceptions in 2021. Wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell leads the team in receptions (33), receiving yards (453) and touchdown catches (five).
Wisconsin's defense is no slouch, of course, and a main storyline will be how Leonhard's group of Badgers contain this rushing attack. UW enters Axe Week still ranked among the best in the nation in several categories, despite giving up 452 yards and 28 points to Nebraska last weekend.
The program currently sits first in the country in rushing defense (64.3 yards per game), second in total defense (237.7 yards per game), and fifth in scoring defense (15.8 points per game). It also ranks fifth in the country in passing efficiency defense (106.0) and sixth in pass defense (173.5 yards per game).
The Badgers allow a mere 2.2 yards per carry, and the most they have given up is 179 yards on 50 carries to Army on Oct.16. Only four teams have accumulated more than 100 yards rushing against UW in 2021.
Leonhard, when asked what the biggest challenges are against Minnesota's offense and areas where his defense needs to perform well in, believes the Gophers' "scheme allows them to get on edges."
"It seems like there’s a lot of tackles where you’re on edges on these guys, and they’re physical. They’re downhill guys. They stick their foot in the ground and get vertical. That’s the No. 1 thing you see in the run game is the difficulty to kind of square these guys up and knock things back, stand it up. They do a really good job of just kind of bleeding you for extra yardage that way, so obviously we have to do a tremendous job of kind of changing the math, changing the angles for these guys, getting them off their tracks. That’s always a huge piece of what you try to do against these guys.
"They’re talented. I really do think that. They’re secure in the football. They’re not having many turnovers. The quarterback is playing efficiently and getting the ball where it needs to, and I think their receivers help him. They do a great job of winning kind of 50-50 balls and one-on-one situations, creating space for the quarterback."
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