Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Chris Borland is the brunt of my Van Wilder college football jokes. It feels like Borland has been at Wisconsin since Bill Clinton was in the Oval Office, but it is more due to his continuous impact with the Badger football team throughout the years. Borland was a big reason why Wisconsin won in blowout fashion against Northwestern Saturday afternoon, 35-6.
The middle linebacker from Kettering, Ohio played another great game with 10 tackles,eight of them being solo, a sack and a pass deflection. In the last two games against high quality Big Ten opponents, Borland has 26 tackles and made an impact in both games in a major way. He plays the game with such a ferocity that not many linebackers do in all of college football. It should not be forgotten Borland made the switch from a 4-3 middle linebacker to a 3-4 middle linebacker. It is a completely different position at the 3-4. Borland has to cover more of the middle yet he does not have to roam the entire middle as he does in the 4-3.
Borland defines the word 'beast.' He is a manchild and someone who should be in the running for best linebacker in all of college football. The Badgers have a mean front seven, but in all honesty, Borland is the only really deserving of more than local attention yet the Badgers have held four of their six opponents to under 10 points. Granted some of those opponents have less life than a zombie on "The Walking Dead" yet the Badgers defense is playing like one of the best in the country thanks in large part to Borland, the captain of the Defense.
As for the Badgers offense, they looked like a well-oiled machine once again. Melvin Gordon and James White both rushed for over 100 yards which should surprise no one at this point of the season. Gordon carried the ball 22 times to the tune of 178 yards while White had 101 yards on 19 carries meaning both of them went over five yards per carry. Wisconsin had both running backs in sync which is a great thing moving forward for the offense. Joel Stave had another nice performance with a home run ball to Jared Abbrederis in the first quarter yet he lost his go-to receiver in the second quarter with a head injury. Even though Stave threw two woeful interceptions, he learned how to manage with out the Magic Man and that's a good thing.
Wisconsin heads to Champaign, Illinois where I do not know if they campaign, shout out to Jalen Rose, to face an upstart Illinois team in a night game. It will probably be tougher than folks expected it to be, yet I am willing to be #44 gets his last name called a lot.
Charlie.
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