Is The Bowl Streak in Jeopardy? What About Nebraska Feels So Familiar? 

There has to be 1 goal at this point: save the bowl streak. That means getting 1 more win in the last 2 games. I think Bucky can do it, but I also thought he would handle Indiana and NW. The team may have thought losing to Indiana was rock bottom, but Northwestern threw them a shovel and said keep digging. I don’t know what Fickell and the players will do at practice this week to change the performance on the field. But something has to change. 

Looking Back: They Didn’t Feel Like Playing

Wisconsin 10
Northwestern 24

Hunter Wohler’s Rant

The best player on defense did not like what he saw on Saturday. Safety Hunter Wohler was made available to the media following the beatdown at the hands of the Wildcats. Wohler proceeded to trash the effort levels of his teammate for the following 7-8 minutes. He repeatedly said he thinks this should be on the players, not the coaches, and that this isn’t why he came to Wisconsin. That sounds a little entitled, but this is a kid who chose Madison over Ohio State. And like I said, he’s the best player on defense. 

It sounds like the locker room both expected to win on Saturday, just for showing up, but at the same time isn’t handling this losing streak very well.

Home Losing Streak

Wisconsin just lost their 3rd straight home game. That hasn’t happened since 2002, the first year of the bowl streak. The amount of disappointment and anger could be felt in the stadium. The crowd booing the Badgers on their way into the locker room at the half was louder than any cheering done all day. It’s the most booing seen at Camp Randall since at least 2015. 

What’s scary: the team kinda deserved it. 

10 – 3rd Downs in a Row

All season long I’ve complained about the offense getting off to slow starts. This week, they continued that trend, but the defense decided to join them.

On the first 10 3rd downs NW faced, they converted all 10. With that stat, it’s not very surprising how they scored touchdowns on all 3 of their first 3 possessions. The Defense was pitiful for the entire 1st half. They did figure something out at halftime though, holding NW to 0 points in the 2nd half. But by then it was too late. And the offense never figured out anything, scoring their only TD in garbage time well after most of the fans had left. 

Looking Forward: Nebraska – Who Made the Better Hire?

• Odds listed were taken from FanDuel at the time of writing.

Game Preview: Nebraska at Wisconsin

Spread: 

Wisconsin -6.5

Over/Under:

36.5

Location:

Camp Randall Stadium – Madison, Wisconsin

Kickoff Time:

6:30 PM CT

TV Network:

NBC

A Minor Complaint to the Big Ten Office

This weekend is the opening weekend for gun hunting in Wisconsin. This is damn near a holiday in the state and home football games should be discouraged. Wisco should be on the road this Saturday if possible. Ditto for the NFL. Why are the Packers at home this Sunday too?

Drinking The Rhule-ade

They are Ye Olde Wisconsin

Head coach Matt Rhule has not been shy about what he wants to do in Nebraska.

• Run the ball
• Low scoring games
• Huddle up, slow the game down
• Stout Defense
• Efficient offense, not explosive
• Use lots of TEs and FBs

That sounds familiar, right? Matt Rhule wants Nebraska to be what made Wisconsin great for the last 30 years. And Wisconsin is pivoting to the Air Raid (trying to pivot). 

How they’ve done so far:

Nebraska is 5-5 right now. That’s the same as Wisconsin. 

They hired a new coach last offseason and are expecting him to make their program nationally relevant again. In the preseason they expected to win the B1G West. They have a passionate fanbase. They’ve lost their last 2 games in a row. They’ve had QB issues all season. They are Red. 

Sound like a team you know? They are Wisconsin. And they are currently as disappointed in their season as Wisconsin fans are in theirs. Wisconsin fans have lost all hope for 2023, and so have Nebraska fans. 

As bad as you might think Wisconsin is, Nebraska is their equal. No one thinks they are winning on Saturday, but someone has to. 

What to Watch for the Badgers

I have 3 major questions for the Badgers this Saturday. I think the answers to these questions will decide the game. They may seem obvious, but I’m going to bring them up anyway.

Who’s got the better coach?

Matt Rhule vs Luke Fickell. Hopefully, this becomes one of the must-see coaching matchups in the future B1G. This is round one, can Fickell extend Wisco’s 10 game winning streak against Big Red? Or does Rhule make Nebraska bowl eligible for the 1st time in 8 years? 

Who’s got the better QB?

Tanner Mordecai is back. It’s not the decision I would’ve made, but it’s the decision fans like me have to deal with. Fickell is clearly putting an emphasis on winning now instead of building for next year. If Mordecai’s hand injury acts up, I would not be against putting Locke in again. 

Heinrich Haarberg stole the starting QB from Jeff Sims at Nebraska. With him at the helm, they’ve been a much better squad. Unfortunately for them, he is injured and has been limited at practice this week. If Haarberg can’t go it would be a huge blow for the Cornhuskers.

Is Braelon back yet?

I didn’t think Wisconsin would need Braelon vs. NW and at Indiana. I was wrong. Please heal faster Braelon, you are the Wisconsin running game’s only hope. 

My Picks*

Wisconsin is bad, I have been refusing to see that for the last 2 weeks, and it has negatively reflected on my picks. Now that I’m aware Wisconsin is bad, that doesn’t mean I’ll just pick against them for the last 2 games. They happen to be playing other bad teams in weeks 12 and 13. Here’s what I would pick for the Nebraska Night game – if I had to.

Spread: 

Take Nebraska +6.5

If Wisconsin wins (and that’s a big if) it won’t be by a touchdown. I’ll be a 3 point miracle.  

Over/Under:

Under 36.5

Just pick the under in B1G West games: for all time, always. 

How I did last week:

Picking the Winner: Lost – Northwestern won
Picking the Spread: Lost – Northwestern covered
Picking the O/U: Won – The Under hit

Woo, I got the under right. Let’s ignore the other 2 picks. 

Season-Long Record Picking Wisconsin Games:

Picking the Winner: 7-3
Picking the Spread: 6-4
Picking the O/U: 6-4

Wisconsin’s recent losing streak has derailed my record picking their games. I don’t think many people saw the wheels falling off so completely.

*These picks are to express my opinion on games from a point spread perspective. I am not advocating for you, the reader, to gamble on any of these games. Please bet responsibly.

IDFK Score Prediction:

Nebraska 13
Wisconsin 17

Wisconsin wins on some last-minute heroics again, similar to the Illinois game. Both teams look pathetic all night, but the home night crowd actually gives Wisco some energy in the second half. Hopefully, there isn’t any booing like last week, that could derail any Wisconsin momentum from developing.

#BuckyByAMillion

Want more Walk On Fan? 

Check out yesterday’s article on how the B1G West title isn’t out of reach quite yet, and what needs to happen for Wisconsin to pull off the miracle of taking the division.

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This article was written by Cole Tollison and edited by Hayden Breene