Tag: Wisconsin

Wisconsin 24, Michigan 10

Brandon Peters (image via Maize ‘n’ Brew)

Brandon Peters, we hardly knew ye. The redshirt freshman quarterback was 9/18 for 157 yards in about three quarters of play before being knocked out of the game. This was just his third start after replacing the ineffective John O’Korn, who was himself replacing the injured Wilton Speight. Peters was in the midst of showing the whole country what a lot of us Michigan fans saw in the spring game, and that’s the fact that he’s Michigan’s best quarterback. Peters did lose a fumble while making an ill-advised lunge for the goal line, but that was his first and only turnover in about four full games of work and 64 passing attempts. Peters was being evaluated for a head injury, almost certainly has a concussion, and will probably miss next week’s game against Ohio State.

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Preview: Michigan at Wisconsin

RUSH OFFENSE vs. WISCONSIN RUSH DEFENSE

Michigan is #30 in rushing offense (208 yards/game), and that ranking comes after 865 yards and 11 touchdowns over the past three games. The Wolverines are tied for #41 in rushing average (4.91 yards/carry) and tied for #34 in rushing touchdowns. A couple of those stats are made more impressive by the fact that Michigan has generally struggled to pass the ball all season. Michigan’s offensive line is #10 in Adjusted Line Yards and #35 in Standard Down Line Yards, so they’re doing okay. Starting running back Karan Higdon (854 yards, 6.62 yards/carry, 10 TDs) left last week’s Maryland game with an ankle injury, but he is expected to return; he has two 200-yard games this season. Meanwhile, right guard Michael Onwenu is also expected back from injury. Wisconsin is #1 nationally in rush defense (81.5 yards allowed/game), and they have allowed fewer than 100 yards to six out of ten opponents so far. The most productive running team against them was Nebraska, who had 110 yards and averaged 4.23 yards/carry. Linebacker Ryan Connelly (6’3″, 228 lbs.) leads the team with 55 tackles, and seven of the top nine tacklers are linebackers in their base 3-4 defense. Six players have between 5.5 and 9.5 tackles for loss, led by senior outside linebacker Garret Dooley (6’3″, 246). The team is tied at #31 with 69 tackles for loss this season. Michigan has run the ball better than some people give them credit for this season, but it’s an offense still finding its way against the #1 run-stuffing defense in the nation.
Advantage: Wisconsin

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Michigan vs. Wisconsin Awards

Ryan Glasgow (#96, image via Oakland Press)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Jabrill Peppers. Peppers played some Wildcat quarterback and flipped the ball to Jehu Chesson on a reverse, but he didn’t register in the offensive stat book. Michigan struggled to score points and averaged a mediocre 4.0 yards/carry, taking a 7-7 lead into the fourth quarter before scoring the game-winning touchdown with fewer than eight minutes left. So far this year, Peppers has 2 carries for 24 yards. Maybe Michigan doesn’t need him much against Rutgers next week, but they will need his contributions down the road.

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Michigan 14, Wisconsin 7

5-0 feels good. Michigan fans had to sweat it out on Saturday, even though Wisconsin couldn’t do much of anything on offense. But now that the Wolverines have faced adversity a couple times – being 7-7 in the second half with Wisconsin, being down 28-7 to Colorado – and come out on top, it feels good to know that Michigan won’t crumple in the fourth quarter. Fans were talking on here and elsewhere that Wisconsin was going to get handled pretty easily, but a) good defense keeps you in the game and b) Michigan’s not that great offensively. Regardless, a win over the #8 team in the country – and one who had beaten us up the last two times we played – leaves us looking pretty good to the pollsters.

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Preview: Michigan vs. Wisconsin

RUSH OFFENSE vs. WISCONSIN RUSH DEFENSE

Michigan has sneaked into the top 30 in rushing offense with almost 230 yards/game, and they’ve managed to get to #20 in yards/carry at 5.41 without a QB who’s a threat to run. Four players have between 22 and 39 carries, so it’s a running-back-by-committee situation, even if De’Veon Smith is the unquestioned starter. In fact, the numbers look like vintage Wisconsin running backs with all four of those guys (Smith, Ty Isaac, Karan Higdon, Chris Evans) averaging 4.6 to 7.3 yards/carry. The offensive line had perhaps its best performance of the year against Penn State last week, though PSU’s skeleton crew of linebackers were unable to do much. I named Erik Magnuson the MVP of the game, and Pro Football Focus ended up agreeing that he was very good. Wisconsin is #10 in rush defense, giving up just over 80 yards/game, and they’re #27 with 3.19 yards allowed/carry. They have only allowed 1 rushing touchdown this season, and that includes games against potential Heisman winner Leonard Fournette and run-heavy Michigan State. Inside linebacker Jack Cichy (6’2″, 233 lbs.) leads the team with 23 tackles, and outside linebacker T.J. Watt (J.J.’s 6’5″, 243 lb. brother) is second with 18 stops. Watt is tough on the edge, but Cichy is the run-stopper up the middle and has the ability to slice into gaps for TFLs. This is the best linebacker crew Michigan will face all season, except maybe Ohio State. I really like the way they play ball. The defensive line is so-so, despite having a 340 lb. nose tackle in Olive Sagapolu. Michigan has put up good stats against weak or weakened opponents this year, but the Badgers will be tough to run against, even if the rumors are true that outside linebacker Vince Biegel won’t play due to injury (UPDATE: while writing this, he was indeed ruled out after having foot surgery).
Advantage: Wisconsin

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