When Wisconsin has the ball
Wofford uses a 3-4 defense, which will be an adjustment for UW's offense. The Terriers can bring pressure and last
season ranked 10th nationally at their level with 34 sacks. The biggest issue Wofford's defense has to deal with is a lack of size up front. Its starting defensive linemen average 250 pounds, compared to 319.4 pounds for Wisconsin's offensive line. Wofford used a lot of players on defense last season: 19 had 20-plus tackles, 15 had sacks and 11 had interceptions. Mitch Clark, a returning first-team All-Southern Conference selection, is supposed to anchor the defense but is out with an injury. The Terriers return only one starter at linebacker in senior Gary Blount. Sophomore inside linebacker Mike Niam is a 245-pounder who leads the team in tackles (22) and forced fumbles (two). The only returner in the secondary is Mychael Johnson, who moved from cornerback to free safety. The Badgers must improve on third down after converting five of 13 last week against Fresno State. The big problem was too many third-and-longs, due to poor production on first down. Until John Clay's 72-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, the Badgers had 17 carries for 43 yards on first down (2.5 average). Two of those were sacks that lost 13 yards and there were two penalties that lost an additional 10 yards.
Edge: Wisconsin.
When Wofford has the ball
The loss of sophomore fullback Eric Breitenstein, who suffered a knee injury last week and could be out for the season, is a huge blow for Wofford. He is averaging 6.7 yards a carry and leads the team with 187 rushing yards. The fullback dive sets up the Terriers' triple-option and the position will now be filled by committee with three players. Junior halfback Mike Rucker, who had an 80-yard touchdown run against Charleston Southern, is the top remaining threat. Wofford ranked second nationally last season with an average of 343.3 rushing yards. This year's team also ranks second at 285.5. UW allowed a season-high 276 rushing yards last season to Cal Poly, which runs a similar option offense. But Wofford does not have a quarterback as experienced as Jonathan Dally, or a receiving threat like Ramses Barden, who would have led Cal Poly to the upset if not for three missed extra points. Wofford sophomore QB Mitch Allen took over for the departed Ben Widmyer and is averaging 73.5 rushing yards per game. Allen has completed only 7 of 18 passes (39.8 percent). The Badgers did some early preparation for Wofford's offense in camp and should be better prepared after the Cal Poly debacle. Edge: Wisconsin.
Special teams
Wofford had two bad snaps on punts that contributed to its 40-7 loss to South Florida in the opener. Rucker is a threat on kickoff returns, averaging 24.4 yards. This could be an opportunity for the Badgers to get straightened out on their return teams. The Terriers are allowing 15.3 yards on punt returns and 23 yards on kickoff returns. Wisconsin's David Gilreath set up two touchdown drives last week with kickoff returns of 38 and 35 yards. He is averaging 27 yards, up from 19.6 last year. After missing his first three field-goal attempts, from 55, 41 and 47 yards, Philip Welch made his next two - a career-long 57-yarder at the end of the half and a 22-yarder in overtime to beat Fresno State.
Intangibles
This is the first Big Ten opponent for Wofford, which has played South Carolina (twice), North Carolina State, West Virginia and South Florida since 2005. The Terriers battled South Carolina evenly for most of the game last season before losing 23-13. That caused Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier to say, "I really admire the way that those guys play. Coach (Mike) Ayers never has to worry about the effort level of those kids. They all play their hearts out every play." Wofford had two of its top-five home crowds last season, including a record 12,124 for a game against Georgia Southern. The Terriers played seven home games overall in front of a total of 64,828 fans, or roughly 16,000 fewer fans than will be in the stands for today's game.
Prediction
Despite the offensive similarities, forget about Cal Poly. Wofford's version of the option offense is not as dangerous as Cal Poly's was last season. Think more of The Citadel, which is from the same conference as Wofford, and traveled to Camp Randall Stadium two years ago. That game was tied at halftime before the Badgers pulled away to win by 14 points. The Badgers could use a little breathing room in the second half to look at some more players before the start of Big Ten play.
Wisconsin 38, Wofford 17
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