By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
QUICK HITTERS. . . .
BACK IN 2000, a season they would end as Big Ten Co-Champions, the 'Cats traveled to Camp Randall Stadium and upset No. 7 Wisconsin by three in double overtime. But since then that playpen has been a most-inhospitable place for them to visit. They lost there by 12 in '04 and by 32 in '06, by 47 in '10 and by 29 in '13, and now on Saturday they must go there again to face the No. 25 Badgers. "Don't turn it over. That's the bottom line," Pat Fitzgerald said this week when asked how his team could reverse that recent trend. "The last couple times we've been up there we turned it over a bunch. You can't do that and expect to win."
COINCIDENTALLY ENOUGH, the 'Cats have toppled the Badgers all four times they've played at Ryan Field since 2000.
THE CALENDAR is now deep into November, that time of year when the weather can play a role in any game. "I said to the team at the start of November, 'Team's don't win in November on scheme. Teams win on fundamentals,'" Fitzgerald recalled early this week. "We're going to have a beautiful, balmy, 30-something degree day on Saturday going down into the 20s by the end of the game. The ball's going to be as solid as a rock. For our specialists, it's going to be a harder ball than they've kicked. How we strike it, what our footwork is, what our mechanics are, throwing the ball, catching the ball-- all those things, as you get into late November, you get into the weather. You need to go back to your fundamentals."
THE FORECAST has gotten even balmier since Fitzgerald made that observation. It now includes snow.
THE BADGER offense this season was expected to feature Corey Clement, who was being touted as the latest in their long line of dynamic running backs. But he was injured shortly before their season opener with Alabama, which held him to just 16 yards on eight carries, and then he missed seven games after undergoing a sports hernia surgery. He returned to gain 115 yards and score three touchdowns in their Oct. 31 win over Rutgers, but didn't play the next week when they defeated Maryland. That sent them into their bye week and last Tuesday he did appear at their practice. But after it a Milwaukee paper reported Badger running backs coach John Settle as saying, "He rode the bike. It's going to be like it has been all year, day-to-day. He's just not ready."
He is also not expected to play on Saturday.
REDSHIRT JUNIOR Dave Ogunbowale has been the Badger workhorse in Clement's absence, gaining 612 yards on 114 carries (4.3 ypc) with six touchdowns.
But they are averaging just 154.6 rushing yards per-game, exactly 42 less than the 'Cats.
THESE BADGERS, then, are different from those editions that have preceded them. This edition relies more heavily on the pass, averaging a school-record 37.7 attempts per-game.
THEIR TRIGGERMAN is 6-foot-5, 219-pound senior Joel Stave, a former walk-on who is 29-9 as a starter. Only two active FBS quarterbacks have compiled more wins-- Michigan State's Connor Cook and Stanford's Kevin Hogan.
IN THE 'CATS' 20-14 win over the Badgers last season, Stave relieved starter Tanner McEvoy and went eight-of-19 for 114 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. But this year he is 178-of-292 for 2,162 yards (216.2 ypg) with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. "I've been really impressed by Joel. I think he's really had a terrific season," Fitzgerald said of him this week. "He's had to shoulder a lot with the running back situation. Joel's been the one consistent, real impressive aspect of what they're doing offensively."
NORTHWESTERN RUNNING BACK Justin Jackson gouged the Badgers in that game last year, ending the afternoon with 162 yards on 33 carries (4.9 ypc). They have not forgotten. "He's a hard runner," one of them, cornerback Darius Hillary, said this week. "He's shifty. He can do a lot of things if you allow him to. The main focus this week is tackling. That's something that a couple times last year when we played them we didn't do so well. We've got to be able to tackle-- wrap and roll and pin the knees. I'm definitely looking forward to it."
THE BADGERS' rushing defense is the top-ranked in the Big Ten, surrendering an average of just 97.9 yards-per-game. That's stingy enough. Now consider this. Alabama ran for 238 yards against it in their season opener, but since then opponents have averaged a mere 81.6 ypg. That defense has also allowed only 24 runs of 10 yards-or-more, the fewest in the FBS.
THE BADGERS also lead the FBS in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 12.3 points-per-game, and at home they are even stingier. There they have pitched three shutouts, surrendered just three touchdowns and given up only 30 points, an average of just 5 ppg. It is no wonder, then, that this week Fitzgerald said, "Statistically is one thing. It says a lot about what they are defensively. But when you watch it on tape, it's even more impressive. Just absolutely outstanding on defense. Playmakers at all three levels. Everyone's on the same page, very fundamentally sound, they play their tails off."
THEIR BIGGEST PLAYMAKER is 6-foot-2, 236-pound linebacker Joe Schobert. He has 15.5 tackles-for-loss, 9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and 12 quarterback hurries.
SATURDAY will be the first time these teams meet with both in the Top 25 since 1995. That year, at Ryan Field, the No. 11 'Cats beat the No. 24 Badgers, 35-0, behind the stellar play of a junior linebacker named Pat Fitzgerald.
BUT THIS SATURDAY, to go back to the beginning, they will meet in Camp Randall. "This week," Fitzgerald said of that playpen, "it's the hardest place in the country to play. It's like going to Lincoln (Nebraska). It's one of those cathedrals of college football. You get excited about it. That's why you come play in the Big Ten. You want to play on the big stage, you want to compete against great teams. That's what we're playing this week."
"It's a great college environment. It's a very loud place," defensive end Dean Lowry soon echoed. "We played there two years ago and like Coach Fit was saying, it's one of those place you look forward to playing in. It's going to be a great challenge."
"The fans really make a difference, along with the student section," linebacker Drew Smith then concluded. "But at the end of the day, only 11 guys come out there and play."
AND FINALLY, one last factoid: Fitzgerald and Badger coach Paul Chryst are two of the 15 FBS coaches leading their alma maters.
NUsports.com Special Contributor
QUICK HITTERS. . . .
BACK IN 2000, a season they would end as Big Ten Co-Champions, the 'Cats traveled to Camp Randall Stadium and upset No. 7 Wisconsin by three in double overtime. But since then that playpen has been a most-inhospitable place for them to visit. They lost there by 12 in '04 and by 32 in '06, by 47 in '10 and by 29 in '13, and now on Saturday they must go there again to face the No. 25 Badgers. "Don't turn it over. That's the bottom line," Pat Fitzgerald said this week when asked how his team could reverse that recent trend. "The last couple times we've been up there we turned it over a bunch. You can't do that and expect to win."
COINCIDENTALLY ENOUGH, the 'Cats have toppled the Badgers all four times they've played at Ryan Field since 2000.
THE CALENDAR is now deep into November, that time of year when the weather can play a role in any game. "I said to the team at the start of November, 'Team's don't win in November on scheme. Teams win on fundamentals,'" Fitzgerald recalled early this week. "We're going to have a beautiful, balmy, 30-something degree day on Saturday going down into the 20s by the end of the game. The ball's going to be as solid as a rock. For our specialists, it's going to be a harder ball than they've kicked. How we strike it, what our footwork is, what our mechanics are, throwing the ball, catching the ball-- all those things, as you get into late November, you get into the weather. You need to go back to your fundamentals."
THE FORECAST has gotten even balmier since Fitzgerald made that observation. It now includes snow.
THE BADGER offense this season was expected to feature Corey Clement, who was being touted as the latest in their long line of dynamic running backs. But he was injured shortly before their season opener with Alabama, which held him to just 16 yards on eight carries, and then he missed seven games after undergoing a sports hernia surgery. He returned to gain 115 yards and score three touchdowns in their Oct. 31 win over Rutgers, but didn't play the next week when they defeated Maryland. That sent them into their bye week and last Tuesday he did appear at their practice. But after it a Milwaukee paper reported Badger running backs coach John Settle as saying, "He rode the bike. It's going to be like it has been all year, day-to-day. He's just not ready."
He is also not expected to play on Saturday.
REDSHIRT JUNIOR Dave Ogunbowale has been the Badger workhorse in Clement's absence, gaining 612 yards on 114 carries (4.3 ypc) with six touchdowns.
But they are averaging just 154.6 rushing yards per-game, exactly 42 less than the 'Cats.
THESE BADGERS, then, are different from those editions that have preceded them. This edition relies more heavily on the pass, averaging a school-record 37.7 attempts per-game.
THEIR TRIGGERMAN is 6-foot-5, 219-pound senior Joel Stave, a former walk-on who is 29-9 as a starter. Only two active FBS quarterbacks have compiled more wins-- Michigan State's Connor Cook and Stanford's Kevin Hogan.
IN THE 'CATS' 20-14 win over the Badgers last season, Stave relieved starter Tanner McEvoy and went eight-of-19 for 114 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. But this year he is 178-of-292 for 2,162 yards (216.2 ypg) with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. "I've been really impressed by Joel. I think he's really had a terrific season," Fitzgerald said of him this week. "He's had to shoulder a lot with the running back situation. Joel's been the one consistent, real impressive aspect of what they're doing offensively."
NORTHWESTERN RUNNING BACK Justin Jackson gouged the Badgers in that game last year, ending the afternoon with 162 yards on 33 carries (4.9 ypc). They have not forgotten. "He's a hard runner," one of them, cornerback Darius Hillary, said this week. "He's shifty. He can do a lot of things if you allow him to. The main focus this week is tackling. That's something that a couple times last year when we played them we didn't do so well. We've got to be able to tackle-- wrap and roll and pin the knees. I'm definitely looking forward to it."
THE BADGERS' rushing defense is the top-ranked in the Big Ten, surrendering an average of just 97.9 yards-per-game. That's stingy enough. Now consider this. Alabama ran for 238 yards against it in their season opener, but since then opponents have averaged a mere 81.6 ypg. That defense has also allowed only 24 runs of 10 yards-or-more, the fewest in the FBS.
THE BADGERS also lead the FBS in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 12.3 points-per-game, and at home they are even stingier. There they have pitched three shutouts, surrendered just three touchdowns and given up only 30 points, an average of just 5 ppg. It is no wonder, then, that this week Fitzgerald said, "Statistically is one thing. It says a lot about what they are defensively. But when you watch it on tape, it's even more impressive. Just absolutely outstanding on defense. Playmakers at all three levels. Everyone's on the same page, very fundamentally sound, they play their tails off."
THEIR BIGGEST PLAYMAKER is 6-foot-2, 236-pound linebacker Joe Schobert. He has 15.5 tackles-for-loss, 9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and 12 quarterback hurries.
SATURDAY will be the first time these teams meet with both in the Top 25 since 1995. That year, at Ryan Field, the No. 11 'Cats beat the No. 24 Badgers, 35-0, behind the stellar play of a junior linebacker named Pat Fitzgerald.
BUT THIS SATURDAY, to go back to the beginning, they will meet in Camp Randall. "This week," Fitzgerald said of that playpen, "it's the hardest place in the country to play. It's like going to Lincoln (Nebraska). It's one of those cathedrals of college football. You get excited about it. That's why you come play in the Big Ten. You want to play on the big stage, you want to compete against great teams. That's what we're playing this week."
"It's a great college environment. It's a very loud place," defensive end Dean Lowry soon echoed. "We played there two years ago and like Coach Fit was saying, it's one of those place you look forward to playing in. It's going to be a great challenge."
"The fans really make a difference, along with the student section," linebacker Drew Smith then concluded. "But at the end of the day, only 11 guys come out there and play."
AND FINALLY, one last factoid: Fitzgerald and Badger coach Paul Chryst are two of the 15 FBS coaches leading their alma maters.