If there was a survey of national college football experts and B1G experts, they would probably say Wisconsin and Illinois are both playing above expectations. As for the Badgers, they were expected to be good, but with Gary Andersen taking over, some expected a transitional phase yet this has not happened as Wisconsin looks great even losing two games by a combined total of nine points. This Badgers team is just as good as they have been in the last five years. Many people had doubts about Illinois going into the season. Tim Beckman appeared to be two and done as a coach after his first season with the Fighting Illini. People overreacted to their 1-11 season last year and Beckman has done an adequate job this year with their only two losses being against Washington and Nebraska at a neutral and on the road. They are only three wins away from being bowl eligible and now they play Wisconsin at home in a night game with a fired up (See: Drunk as a synonym) fanbase.
If the Illini want to pull off the upset, they have to be better at stopping the run on defense. Currently, they ranked 99th in the NCAA. Looking at who they have played this season, they have faced some great running backs in Washington's Bishop Sankey and Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah. In those games, Sankey rushed for 208 yards with a touchdown on 35 carries and Abdullah rushed for 225 yards with two touchdowns on 20 carries. This could spell bad news for the Illini as the Badgers bring their mean two-headed rushing attack to town.
Melvin Gordon and James White showed no stops of slowing down last week against Northwestern. These two have to be licking their chops watching the film this week as Sankey and Abdullah were able to gash them with ease. It is always a run-first mentality with Wisconsin, but I feel more so than the past couple weeks, the running attack will be stressed from the Badgers. Additionally, they will be fully loaded at receiver as Jared Abbrederis is expected to play this week after suffering a concussion last week against Northwestern.
Somehow Nathan Scheelhaase is still at Illinois. I know I am amazed as you are, seeing as Scheelhaase played during the days of Ron Dayne. To his credit, Scheelhaase is having his strongest year to date with 12 touchdowns and only four interceptions with his completion percentage being at its highest. Granted this is only five games into the season yet he is playing above his head versus the other three years. Scheelhaase is playing more in control and could help the Illini pull off the upset of the Badgers.
Illinois had two weeks to prepare for the Badgers. This is arguably the biggest game in a couple years for Illinois given last year's horrid season. I feel like Illinois will play tough for the first half of the game keeping it close, but in the end, the run defense for the Illini burns them again leading to the Badgers wearing them down. Wisconsin 41 Illinois 20.
Charlie.
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