The #12 Michigan Wolverines travel to Madison Wisconsin this week for an early 11:00AM CST start to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. Michigan is coming off a win over instate rival MSU, while Wisconsin failed in their upset attempt of the #1 ranked Buckeyes in Columbus. Michigan started the season as a huge disappointment and turned the ship around with 8 wins in a row. Wisconsin's start to the season was solid but the start to the Big Ten season was poor with back to back losses to Illinois and Penn State.
Early in the year there was talk this game would be for the Big Ten Championship and played at night on ESPN or ABC SNF. Lots has happened since then and now this game is starting before noon locally. Wisconsin and Michigan are both banged up. Both teams top running backs are questionable with injuries and Michigan's senior QB is all so trying to heal from a shoulder injury. With that said, who isn't hurt in November? Heck, even my back is tight.
Many could see this as a trap game for the Wolverines since OSU is on deck and Michigan could go to the Rose Bowl with a loss this week and a win next. For my dollar, 3 losses sound a lot better then 4 and Michigan needs to play Wisconsin like it was OSU and play to win from the kickoff.
Wisconsin likes to hold the ball on offense and is second in the nation in time of possession at over 34 minutes a game. If an offense holds the ball that long it means the opponents defense is on the field way too much and will get tired and worn down. Michigan will need long drives on offense to keep the Wisconsin offense off the field.
Wisconsin likes to play "Big Ten Football" and will try to pound the ball into the Michigan defense, which quite frankly had trouble stopping the run against the Spartans in the second half. Another fact is Wisconsin doesn't lose at home and is 24-1 since 2004.
Doesn't sound great for the Wolverines does it? Well, there is hope. Chad and Mike will play in this game. Hopefully Mike's ankle is closer to 100% then last week. The defense I'm sure has seen nothing but running plays from the scout team all week. So all is not lost in this trip for cheese, but once again this game will be tight. Wisconsin will fake punts and field goals to try to win this one and get a New Years Day Bowl Bid. Michigan 21 Wisconsin 17
Sing "Hail to the Victors" if:
- Chad and Mike are 96+% healthy (Hart 150 yards and Henne passes for 225)
- Minor and Brown give us good snaps when Hart needs a rest (100 yards combined)
- The defense can stop the run
- Crable lives in the Wisconsin backfield
- KC keeps making field goals
- Michigan gets an early lead and keeps it for the entire game
- Michigan leaves the game as healthy as they started for next weeks showdown
Open the bar and start drinking if:
- Michigan starts slow or falls a sleep in the second half
- We see a lot of Ryan Mallett (not in mop up time)
- Wisconsin offense keeps Chad and Mike off the field
- Michigan has trouble on 3rd downs on both sides of the ball
- Stopping the run continues to be a problem
- We get fooled on a number of trick plays
Enjoy the early start on ESPN HD. Look for special posts next week as "The GAME" quickly approaches. (please note the fore mentioned ad is not to "over look" the Wisconsin Badgers in anyway. We are taking this week as a must win. The bighouseblog.com staff has been training hard all week and is 100% focused on the Badgers)
1 comment:
Wisconsin 37
Michigan 21
This time Michigan not only started slow, but fell asleep during the first half and the beginning of the second half.
Defense: The defensive line and linebackers continue to display an aggressive pass rush but often times struggle against the run particularly in the middle of the line. This may be due in part to the inexperience of the nose tackle inparticular.
Would like to see tighter coverage on opposing receivers by the corners, especially on the line of scrimage and much tighter coverage in nickel and dime packages.
Offense: The offensive line showed considerable difficulty pass protecting. The running game was virtually non-existent. Michigan continues to struggle putting together sustained drives. They are relying too much on big plays by their receivers. This puts too much pressure on the young and somewhat inexperience Ryan Mallett, and even Chad Henne when playing.
Hopefully, Michigan will play much more inspired football next weekend against the Buckeyes.
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