This Saturday the No.7 Wisconsin Badgers will look to lock up at least a tie for the Big Ten Championship when they host the Northwestern Wildcats in the final game of the regular season for both teams.
The Badgers went into Michigan and beat the Wolverines 48-28 last week, for their first win at Ann Arbor since 1994. The Wildcats took on in-state rival Illinois last week at Wrigley Field, but wound up losing 48-27. The Badgers were upset by Northwestern 33-31 last season, but the home team has won five straight in the series.
The oddsmakers aren’t giving the Wildcats much of a chance at all in this one, as the current college football odds have the Badgers favored by 23.5-points over the Wildcats at home.
Northwestern (7-4, 3-4 Big Ten)
Last week against Illinois, the Wildcats got a nice game from running back Mike Trumpy, who had 129 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 attempts, and really gave Northwestern hope that they could win without starting quarterback Dan Persa, who was lost for the season the previous week against Iowa.
Behind the two scores by Trumpy and an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Brian Peters, the Wildcats trailed just 27-24 at half. Things didn’t go so well in the second half, as the Wildcats could only manage 110 yards of total offense over the final two quarters.
Freshman Evan Watkins started in place of Persa, and really had a rough go of things, completing just 10 of 20 passes for only 135 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Watkins ran seven times for 15 yards, no where near the numbers Persa had been putting up this season.
Getting the offense going against Wisconsin really figures to be a tough task for an offense missing its best player. The Badgers come in 28th in the nation, allowing just 129 yards a game on the ground, and are 334d against the pass, giving up just 198 yards a game. With the offense figuring to struggle, it will be up to the Wildcats defense to keep this game close and give them a chance to win.
Wisconsin (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten)
As good as the Badgers have been this season, if the Wolverines beat Ohio State and the Spartans go on the road and beat Penn State, it will be Michigan State representing the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl, but if the Spartans lose, the Badgers will be the ones headed to Pasadena. Still all Wisconsin can do is focus on beating Northwestern, as they likely will receive an at-large bid to a BCS bowl if they aren’t the ones playing in the Rose Bowl.
The Badgers offense took advantage of a weak Michigan defense last week, racking up 558 yards of total offense, including 357 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. James White finished with 181 yards and two touchdowns and Monte Ball added another 173 yards and four scores.
Quarterback Scott Tolzien was nearly perfect throwing the ball, completing 14 of 15 attempts for 201 yards, with his only incomplete pass being an interception. The Badgers did all this without star starting running back John Clay, who may not be ready to go again this week.
With the Wildcats giving up 519 yards on the ground last week, you can expect the Badgers to really pound the football with the running game this week, and with the talent they have on the offensive line, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Badgers went for over 400 yards rushing in this one.
Looking at the Odds
Even though I am not a huge fan of laying 23.5 points, I think there is no question you have to take the Badgers to cover in this one, as I think they could win this game by 50 points. Northwestern looked lost on offense without Persa, and the Badgers running game figures to go crazy in this one. My final score prediction is Wisconsin 56, Northwestern 17.
