Image Credit: Rant Sports

Opponent: Wisconsin Badgers (4-2, 1-1 Big Ten Conference)
Location: Camp Randall Stadium (80,321)
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2014
Time: 12:00 PM ET
TV/Radio Broadcasts: Big Ten Network, Maryland Sports Radio Network

(Discuss this article on the BSL Message Board here.)

Opponent Preview

The Wisconsin Badgers’ season has not gone exactly as many fans had hoped to this point. They were featured in a huge matchup to start the year with LSU, a game many had pegged as a chance for the Big Ten to put the SEC in their place. While Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead, the Tigers bounced back and won the game by 4 points. The Badgers then went on to win their next three games against below-average opponents before losing a surprising game in Evanston, IL to Northwestern. This 4-2 start was not what many had hoped for from the Badgers, who have since fallen out of the Top 25.

Despite the fairly disappointing start, Wisconsin’s offense features one of the best players in all of college football: Melvin Gordon. The electric junior running back is an absolute workhorse, averaging over 20 carries per game for the Badgers. He has rushed for over 250 yards in two games, while rushing for under 140 only once. His performance against Bowling Green will be remembered for decades: 13 carries, 253 yards, 5 TD. In his last game against Illinois, he ran 27 times for 175 yards and 4 scores. On the season, he has already run for over 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns. He has also added 27 yards and a touchdown through the air. He is one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy this season, and Maryland’s defense will have their hands full trying to stop this Wisconsin ground attack.

As good as their running game is, the Badgers have severe issues in the passing game. Tanner McEvoy began the year at quarterback, but has since given up most of his snaps to Joel Stave. McEvoy is the better runner of the two, while Stave is the better thrower. Neither quarterback has done very well on the season, with McEvoy throwing for just over 600 yards with 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and Stave throwing for 187 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions. Finding consistency at the quarterback position has to be a priority for the Badgers. You may be able to beat teams like Bowling Green or South Florida with Melvin Gordon alone, but when you play teams like LSU or Nebraska, you must have solid quarterback play.

Luckily for Wisconsin, their defense has been stellar once again this season. They rank 10th-best in the country in points allowed per game, and are one of the few teams in the Big Ten Conference to run a 3-4 scheme. Maryland runs a 3-4 as well, so C.J. Brown should be used to many of the looks given to him by the Badgers. Junior safety Michael Caputo leads the Badgers’ defensive backfield, and is an extremely talented young man. He is a great run-stopper from his safety position, and leads the team in tackles with 45. Derek Landisch is a very talented senior linebacker who leads the team in tackles for loss and sacks. The Badgers’ defense plays very well as a unit, and are rarely fooled by opposing offenses. Maryland’s multiple offense will need to execute plays flawlessly in order to move the ball on this stingy defensive unit.

Maryland Preview

The Terrapins are fresh off of a two-game homestand that saw them lose to Ohio State and beat Iowa last week. They now embark on a two-game road trip that takes them to two of the largest, noisiest, and most historic sites in college football: Camp Randall Stadium and Beaver Stadium. Maryland’s win over Iowa was a very impressive one, as the Terps came back from being down 14-0 to beat the Hawkeyes by a score of 38-31.

One of the biggest stories of the game was third-string quarterback Perry Hills. Hills was forced into action after C.J. Brown suffered a back injury after an apparent late hit from a Hawkeye defender. The redshirt sophomore completed 5 of his 10 pass attempts for 86 yards and a touchdown. He also added 15 yards on the ground. While he wasn’t in the game for long, he led some nice drives for the Terps and didn’t make any mistakes. Brown was able to re-enter the game in the fourth quarter.

Stefon Diggs had his best game of the season against Iowa, catching 9 balls for 130 yards and a touchdown. He also added 12 yards on the ground. He has now amassed over 100 yards receiving in three of the Terps’ seven games, and has a touchdown reception in three straight games. More concerning though, is the play of Deon Long. He did not record a catch against Iowa, and has only recorded over 60 yards receiving in one game this season. He also hasn’t had a touchdown catch since the team’s first game against James Madison. While he was projected to be a high draft pick in the NFL after this season, his stock is slipping severely. He needs to be a much bigger part of this offense, but that can’t happen if he doesn’t get open.

The Maryland defense played well on Saturday, bouncing back after two quick touchdowns by the Hawkeyes. While Iowa made a late fourth quarter comeback attempt, the defense did not allow them to create big plays, instead forcing them to eat up clock and march their way down the field. In the end, they made some key stops near their goal-line to seal the win for the Terps. William Likely showed once again why he should be considered one of the better cornerbacks in the country, as he returned a crucial interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Maryland’s defense will certainly have their hands full with Wisconsin this week, and will need to limit the big plays by Melvin Gordon to have any kind of success at Camp Randall.

Opponent Interview

This week, I had the great pleasure of speaking with both Zach Heilprin and Jesse Temple about the Wisconsin Badgers. Zach covers Wisconsin football for ESPNWisconsin, and Jesse writes for FOX Sports Wisconsin. I’d like to thank both of them for their participation and for their insightful responses.

BSL: Wisconsin is coming off of a bye week, and hold a record of 4-2 (1-1 Big Ten Conference) on the season. Their two losses have come to LSU and Northwestern, and the Badgers have a perfect record at home. What have been your general impressions of the season so far for Wisconsin, and what do you believe the rest of the year holds for them?

Heilprin: The word to describe the first half of the Badgers season is inconsistency. At times, they’ve played really good football. The first half against LSU, their efforts in the second half against Western Illinois and South Florida and for nearly all of the Bowling Green game. But they’ve been plagued by slow starts and allowed teams that don’t have the same talent as they do to stick around for too long.

A good season is still possible but they must address the inconsistency in all facets of their play.

Temple: This is a Wisconsin team many figured would win the Big Ten West division this season and compete for a conference championship. With six Big Ten games remaining, the Badgers still have an opportunity to achieve those goals. But it’s safe to say this is not how Badgers fans envisioned the first six games playing out. 

The quarterback situation has become a real mess with Joel Stave and Tanner McEvoy, with neither player putting a stranglehold on the starting job. McEvoy started the first five games, but he’s proven ineffective at throwing deep passes (his longest completion has gone for 37 yards). Stave started his first game of the season two weeks ago against Illinois, but he was hardly needed given the way Wisconsin ran the ball. He’s only completing 45.5 percent of his passes so far.

The other big issue offensively has been the lack of playmaking wide receivers. Alex Erickson is the only Wisconsin wide receiver with more than six catches. And without many reliable deep threats, opposing defenses can crowd the box and go after the Badgers’ one-dimensional offense.

Even if the offense has flaws, the defense has proven to be up to the task in most situations. Despite an entirely new starting front seven, Wisconsin still possesses one of the top defenses in the country. The Badgers rank eighth nationally in pass defense, 22nd in run defense, seventh in total defense and 10th in scoring defense.

The biggest takeaway from the start of conference play is this: Losing to Northwestern shows this Wisconsin team can be beaten by just about anybody in the Big Ten. With three huge games looming at the end of the season against Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, that’s not a good sign.

BSL: You can’t talk about Wisconsin without talking about Melvin Gordon. He is incredibly talented, and has only run for under 100 yards once this season. He is certainly in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy, and is likely the best running back in the country. How do the Badgers try to get him the ball, and what do you expect from him against Maryland?

Heilprin: Gordon is likely the most talented running back to have ever played at Wisconsin, which is saying something considering the guys that have come through the program over the past 20 years. He’s on pace to break Ron Dayne’s school record for rushing yards in a season, which is also the Big Ten record. The junior has the ability to run around you or through you, and he’s become a workhorse of late, averaging 28.6 attempts per game over the last three games. Against FBS teams, he’s averaging 201.6 yards per game.

Whereas the past two seasons Gordon was mainly used on fly sweeps and other runs to the outside, almost all of his carries this season have come out of a single back or I-formation set.

Wisconsin’s offense will look very similar to that of Iowa’s but Gordon is the difference maker that the Hawkeyes don’t have. The Badgers will ride Gordon and his backfield mate, Corey Clement, a lot on Saturday and force Maryland to prove that holding Iowa to 116 yards on the ground wasn’t an aberration to a season long trend of struggling to stop the run.

Temple: Given that Maryland has one of the worst run defenses in the country (198.3 yards per game), I’d expect to see Melvin Gordon put together another fantastic day. In Gordon’s last four games, he is averaging 219.5 yards per game. That’s insane. Twice during that span, he has established a new single-game career high for rushing yards.

Wisconsin will use Gordon early and often — he’s averaged 29 carries a game over the last three games. He began his career as someone who thrived getting around the edges, but he’s become an all-around tailback who can pound opponents between the tackles. The Badgers will need more big plays from Gordon if the passing game continues to struggle. But they love to try the deep play-action pass after Gordon has sucked the defense up near the line of scrimmage.

BSL: While the running back position is solidified for the Badgers, the quarterback position is not. While Tanner McEvoy started the season, Joel Stave has come on of late and split snaps with him. Gary Andersen has said that the two men will continue to split snaps this week. What are the major differences between these two quarterbacks, and who do you expect to receive the majority of the playing time against the Terps?

Heilprin: The quarterback issues at Wisconsin have put a significant damper on the season. Most observers thought Joel Stave won the job in fall camp and would get a second year as the starter, but the coaching staff turned to Tanner McEvoy.

The two players couldn’t be more different. McEvoy, who started three games at safety last season, is very mobile and has had some big rushing games this season but he struggles to throw the ball. Stave, on the other hand, is closer to a statue than a runner but gives the Badgers the threat of throwing the ball over the defense, which is a significant weapon with UW’s rushing game.

On Saturday, you can expect to see Stave start, but offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said this week that McEvoy will play more than the one series he got against Illinois. Still, it’d be surprising if he got more than two or three.

Temple: Stave was a two-year starter for Wisconsin at quarterback before this season, but coaches opted to open the season with McEvoy because of his tremendous running ability. McEvoy came to Wisconsin as a dual-threat quarterback, and that’s what Andersen and his staff had been looking for when they arrived on campus two seasons ago. McEvoy certainly has shown flashes of that ability — he set the single-game rushing record by a Wisconsin quarterback with 158 yards on the ground against Bowling Green on Sept. 20.

The problem with McEvoy is that he simply is not a capable enough passer to be relied upon to win games through the air in the Big Ten. In five starts this season, he threw as many interceptions as touchdowns (five). He also struggled on several occasions to connect with receivers that did appear open. After a poor first half against Northwestern in the Big Ten opener, he was pulled in favor of Stave.

Stave is not much of a running threat, but he is the prototypical pocket passer Wisconsin has used in years past. And he delivers a far better deep ball off the play-action than McEvoy. So far, however, there just haven’t been many receivers on the team that can catch those passes. But at least Stave gives the team a chance in that area.

In a perfect world, Wisconsin could meld the skill sets of both players into one quarterback. But that’s not happening this season, so the Badgers will try to skate through with both. I would once again expect Stave to earn the majority of the snaps against Maryland. Coaches inserted Stave into the starting lineup against Illinois for a reason, and he handled all but one drive in that game. McEvoy would be used in situations that would allow him to use his legs as more of an option-style quarterback.

BSL: Wisconsin’s defense has been one of the best in the nation this season, ranking 10th in the country in points allowed per game. They are one of the few Big Ten schools to run the 3-4 scheme (Maryland being one of the others) and it has worked out very well for them. Who should Terrapin fans be on the lookout for when Maryland has the ball?

Heilprin: The defense, like the team as a whole, has been great at times and struggled at others. The big news for the Badgers is the expected return of nose guard Warren Herring. It could be argued that he was their most important returner from last season, but he was lost to a knee injury in the opener. He’s strong enough to allow the defense to play straight up but also has the athleticism to be a part of UW’s slant and stunt packages.

Others to keep an eye on are inside linebackers Marcus Trotter and Derek Landisch, along with safety Michael Caputo, who leads the team in tackles. 

Temple: What makes Wisconsin’s defense so good this season is that the Badgers don’t rely on a single player to create all the big plays. Safety Michael Caputo is as versatile as they come among Big Ten defenders. He can play in man coverage, he can play in the box and he can blitz. He also leads Wisconsin in total tackles with 45.

“Usually when a safety is leading you, people raise their eyebrows and say that’s a bad thing,” Badgers coach Gary Andersen said last month. “But not in the style of defense we’re playing right now. That does not concern me at all.”

Wisconsin also has a pretty stellar group of four starting linebackers that rank 2-5 in total tackles this season: Inside linebacker Derek Landisch (33 tackles), outside linebacker Joe Schobert (30 tackles), inside linebacker Marcus Trotter (28 tackles) and outside linebacker Vince Biegel (25 tackles). Trotter missed the Illinois game with a groin injury, but he’s expected to return for the Maryland game. 

It remains to be seen whether starting nose guard Warren Herring, who has been out since the season opener, will return this week against Maryland.

BSL: This will be the first time that Wisconsin has ever faced Maryland, and the Terps will be experiencing all that is Camp Randall Stadium for the very first time. What are your keys to victory for the Badgers this week?

Heilprin: There are a few things Wisconsin must do if they want to get a win.

The first is obvious: don’t turn the ball over. The Badgers turnover margin is minus-3 and a lot of that has to do with the quarterbacks, who have more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (7).

The second is the ability to tackle in space. UW has been a good tackling team for a majority of the season but Maryland’s receivers will test them after the catch.

And third, is don’t get beat on special teams. Wisconsin has struggled at times in the punt game and one bad kick can lead to a big return for the bevy of talented guys that Maryland has back.

Temple: The keys to victory for Wisconsin are the same keys they’ve been every week, really. Wisconsin ranks eighth nationally in time of possession per game, and that’s largely because the Badgers churn out first downs on the ground with Melvin Gordon and backup tailback Corey Clement. If Wisconsin can keep Maryland’s defense on the field — and keep the Terrapins honest by completing a pass every now and then — then the Badgers should have no problem on offense.

Defensively, Wisconsin has done an excellent job of not allowing redzone touchdowns. Opponents have five touchdowns in 13 redzone trips (38 percent). The Badgers obviously will gladly trade field goals on defense for touchdowns on offense all day.

Zack’s Keys to the Game

  • Limit Gordon’s runs – The Maryland defense did a great job of bottling up Indiana RB Tevin Coleman in their first Big Ten game of the season. They’ll need to be even better against Melvin Gordon this week. If they can just limit his massive runs and force more passes by Joel Stave and Tanner McEvoy, it’ll make their jobs a whole lot easier.
  • No mistakes – When you play a team like Wisconsin on the road, you can’t make mistakes. You have to play clean and play smart, not allowing the Badgers or their crowd to get riled up about stupid mistakes.
  • Get the game to the fourth – As I mentioned before the Ohio State game, the key to games like this is keeping it close into the fourth quarter. You do that, you have a chance.
  • Protect C.J. Brown – The Maryland offensive line has got to be able to protect their quarterback. They haven’t done a good job of it all season, but in order for him to go through his progressions and find his talented receivers, he can’t have defenders coming untouched around the edge and/or up the middle.
  • Run the ball – The Terps have to be able to get their running game going against the Badgers this week. This will help them take the pressure off of the offensive line in pass protection, open up play-action opportunities, and keep Melvin Gordon off the field. Whether it’s C.J. Brown, Brandon Ross, Wes Brown, Jacquille Veii, or Stefon Diggs, the Terps have to be able to run the ball.
Zack Kiesel
Zack Kiesel

Terps Analyst

Zack is a financial analyst for a defense contractor in Washington, DC. The Owings Mills native focuses most of his efforts on Maryland Football recruiting and individual coach and player pieces; but also covers Terps Basketball. He has established relationships with Big Ten beat reporters across the conference, which he utilizes in his game previews. Now a Sr. Terps Analyst for BSL, Zack can be reached at: [email protected].

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