HAVING A BALL
Junior tailback Montee Ball, above, already has done something 1999 Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne never did in his unparalleled career with the Badgers: Catch a touchdown pass. Now Ball is on to another significant project that involves the all-time leading rusher and scorer in UW history. Ball has scored at least one touchdown in his past eight games, dating to Oct. 23, 2010, accounting for 20 TDs in that stretch. Dayne had a touchdown streak of 13 games spanning the 1998 and ’99 seasons, scoring 24 times in the process.
THAT'S MORE LIKE IT
First-year Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren is a defensive guy at heart — he was a defensive coach at UW for the past five years, including three as coordinator from 2008 to ’10 — so you can imagine how much his head has been spinning of late. Northern Illinois’ opener against Army meant preparing for a wishbone triple option (the Cadets rushed for 303 yards). The first road game of the year meant facing Kansas and its spread attack (the Jayhawks ran a staggering 90 plays and averaged 13.4 yards per pass completion). Now it’s the Badgers and their power game that Doeren knows all too well. No surprise that he said this week that he welcomed preparing for a more conventional — not to mention familiar — scheme.
THE THIRD DEGREE
A main reason why Northern Illinois ranks 110th in the nation (out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams) in total defense is its inability to make plays on third and fourth down. Army was 9-for-19 (6-for-15 on third down) and Kansas 15-for-20 (13-for-18 on third down). The Badgers are 13-for-24 (10 of 20 on third down) so far. QB Russell Wilson is 9-for-10 passing for 97 yards and four TDs on third down. He also has runs of 16 and 14 yards while being sacked once.
THIS MIGHT SOUND FAMILIAR
Last time the Badgers lost to a non-Bowl Championship Series team on the road during the regular season? They were reigning Big Ten co-champions fresh off an appearance in the Rose Bowl. And they were ranked in the top 10 after two low-stress wins. UW, ranked eighth at the time, had three turnovers and two touchdowns nullified by penalty en route to a 17-12 loss at Cincinnati on Sept. 18, 1999.
BALANCED DIET
You can’t get much more balanced than the UW offense has been this season. It has rushed for 449 yards and passed for 447. The Badgers are one of five unbeaten FBS teams averaging at least 220 yards rushing and passing, joining Bowling Green, Florida, Georgia Tech and Wyoming. Incidentally, UW finished the 10-game 1970 season with just a 25-yard difference in rushing (1,477) and passing (1,452).
