Itâs easy to say looking at Wisconsinâs season and think itâs a failure, but coming into the season they were expected to be one season away, but they got into the Big Ten Championship game. Although they lost that game and some might think they donât want to play in this game I could not disagree more. First of all this is not the type of team to have those type of feelings towards playing a football game. Secondly itâs the Cotton Bowl against an undefeated team that has gone 2-0 vs. the Big Ten this season.
Western Michigan is having a fabulous season, but when I look at their season they are going to have to deal with a few different things that they havenât had to in the past. #1, what do they do when they canât run the ball? Wisconsin is stout against the run and they have pass rushing talent in T.J. Watt who can take this game over. If Western Michigan canât run the ball which I donât think they can, they wonât be able to control time of possession which is something they love to do. That creates major issues for them especially whenâ¦
Wisconsin can run the ball. Last year Wisconsin struggled, and early this year this offense struggled to get the running game going. However, down the stretch the running game was working well and now they face a team ranked 82nd in rushing defense. That defense of Western Michigan probably a little worse when you consider they faced 2 teams in the top 50 all year. Wisconsin has faced a very challenging schedule from a defensive perspective. They faced defenses ranked an average 37.8 and 5 teams in the top 11!
Wisconsin should be able to get off the field on third down holding opponents to 26% on third down. They also dominate in the red zone at 42% and we saw Western Michigan have major issues scoring in the red zone in their championship game. Both teams take care of the ball so thatâs not a concern, but I think Wisconsin will do a better job. Western Michigan is going to have to go to the air in this game. I think Wisconsin secondary wants to redeem themselves and I see them doing it by studying tendencies and making some big plays in this game which will ultimately lead to a double digit victory.
