When #20 Wisconsin football visits Northwestern on Saturday, it could be the de facto Big Ten West Division championship game; maybe. After all, these are two teams on top of the division, and we’re already halfway through the season. NU is in first place in the division at 4-1, with the Badgers right behind them at 3-1.
However, third place Iowa (3-1) seems to be the trendy pick to win the division, and look out for fourth place Purdue, who also only have one loss, and are playing the best ball right now.
If you’re looking to do some wagering on this game, like you would do at onlinewedden24.com then you’ll see Wisconsin is a substantial favorite. Most sports books have them as anywhere from a 5.5 to 7.5 point favorite. The game will be broadcast on FOX, with Joe Davis, Brady Quinn and Bruce Feldman on the call.
Wisconsin Football Preview:
Everyone talks about star running back Jonathan Taylor. He gets plenty of coverage. The three headed monster the Badgers have at tailback gets plenty of publicity as well. So instead we’re going to back about the offensive line, as Wisconsin football is a program driven and defined by their stellar OL.
Perhaps the unit will win the Joe Moore award (nation’s best OL group) as Notre Dame did last year.
“They’re dudes, you want me to list them all off,” Northwester coach Pat Fitzgerald said Monday. He also said that the group reminds me him or what he and his teammates used to do at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, IL. We’re not sure what he exactly meant by that, but he did make it clear that was a complement, not an insult.
The Badgers have been an NFL OL factory for quite some time, and the tradition will continue in 2019. 33 UW players have been take in the NFL Draft since 2010, and prominent former Badger OL currently in the league include Cowboys center Travis Frederick, Rams right tackle Rob Havenstein, Saints LT Ryan Ramczyk, Browns LT Joe Thomas, Lions RT Rick Wagner and Browns RG Kevin Zeitler.
Michael Deiter has a lot of stand out qualities, but perhaps his strongest suit is versatility.
“I’ll play wherever, I can play any position on the line. I’m confident playing center, guard and tackle,” Deiter said at Big Ten Media Day. “That’s a really cool feeling and it ultimately helps me in the end. So that excites me.”
He also added that he would not prefer to play tackle for too long at the next level, if possible, and would strive to get inside as soon as possible. Wisconsin is one of just four teams that have won 10+ the past four years, and one of just five that have won 80% of their games the past five seasons.
Their OL is as much a reason for that as any, with the Badgers returning four All-Americans to the position group this season. Wisconsin has had 12 OL All-Americans since 2010.
Tackle David Edwards brings a lot of size and athleticism to the table. He possesses a lot of traits that make NFL scouts salivate. “The first thing that jumps out at you is his size, he’s 6-7, 6-8, super long, and then he’s super smart, he’ll interview well, all that stuff,” said Badgers OL Michael Dieter.
“He’s super athletic, combine all those things it makes sense why people love him.”
Of course, Beau Benzschawel is the leader of the pack, and the member of the group who is the most likely to be a first round pick in the NFL Draft. Go here for our latest mock.
Northwestern Wildcats Preview:
Have you ever seen a team that plays as up and as down to their competition as 2018 Northwestern? The Wildcats went down the final minutes of the fourth quarter with both the best team in the league (Michigan) and the worst (Rutgers).
It’s not outside the realm of possibility that we see the Cats upset #3 and undefeated Notre Dame in a couple weeks at home…on the same field where they lost to one of the worst teams in the MAC, Akron, on Sept 15.
One of the worst cliches is all of football is “there’s no such thing as an ugly win.” Of course there is, and last week at Rutgers was exactly that. If you really need to say a pointless bromide, just say “a win’s a win.” At least that is somewhat more acceptable.
This oddsmaker guy, who knows all too well what a terrible favorite Northwestern is against the spread, said it best.
Northwestern only beating Rutgers by a field goal should really count as a loss.
— Todd Fuhrman (@ToddFuhrman) October 20, 2018
I do have some nice things to say about NU’s win in New Jersey though- they did it via the rushing attack. The Wildcats came in with the second worst running game in the entire nation, and they were still able to control the ball and grind clock.
The running game finally looked serviceable again and they may have found their new running back of the post Jeremy Larkin era in Isaiah Bowser. OC Mick McCall needs to waive goodbye to the RB by committee approach.
Instead, be like Super Mario Bros. the overall focus is on Bowser.
The most unique and interesting storyline of this month though is the backup kicker, who is now the starter as the guy above him on the depth chart, Charlie Kuhbander, remains injured. Drew Luckenbaugh is a budding tech entrepreneur who idolizes the inventor of Linux, software titan of industry and innovative genius, Linus Torvalds.
Read more about that at this link.
Prediction: Wisconsin football 27, Northwestern 14
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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