MADISON – If you believe the Las Vegas odds, the talking heads on television or sports writers, Wisconsin won’t beat Alabama on Saturday.
As of Friday morning, the Badgers were a 16½- or 15½-point underdogs, depending on the site you trust, against the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide. And those odds came with UW playing at Camp Randall Stadium (11 a.m. kickoff).
But the battle for favored status heading into the game is one the Wisconsin players don’t care to fight.
“Coming into this game rightfully so we’re going to be underdogs,” redshirt junior outside linebacker Darryl Peterson said. “But we don’t look into that. We know what we bring to the table.
“We’ve got great players on both sides of the ball who will be ready to play on Saturday. That’s why you play the game. Anybody can be a however-many-point underdog on paper.”
The matchup between the 2-0 teams is one of the marquee matchups of Week 3 in college football. FOX is broadcasting the game and bringing its Big Noon pregame show and rapper Offset to campus.
And to add more juice to the affair, the athletic department will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ron Dayne’s Heisman Trophy season by honoring the former Badgers star during the game.
A victory gives Wisconsin its first 3-0 start since 2019, but in the bigger picture of the season the matchup serves as a measuring stick for the team ahead of a bye week and the Big Ten opener at USC. As it stands this week the Badgers have four other opponents on their schedule ranked in the US LBM USA Today Coaches poll: No. 11 USC (Sept. 28), No. 7 Penn State (Oct. 28), No. 6 Oregon (Nov. 16) and No. 24 Nebraska (Nov. 23).
And in the even bigger picture of building a program, what better opponent to face than the Crimson Tide, which won seven national championships during the previous 20 seasons?
“I just feel It’s a great opportunity,” senior outside linebacker Leon Lowery said. “Like Coach (Luke) Fickell has said all week, if you want to be the best, you’ve got to play the best. We don’t change anything. We just go out there and attack each day and have a mindset that if we do what we need to do we’ll win the game.”
Individually it’s a great opportunity for the Badgers to face a team that routinely sends players to the National Football League. Seventy-five former Alabama players were on active rosters last week. Performing well against players with that kind of pedigree could pay off in the draft.
“Everyone is super excited about this week,” senior running back Chez Mellusi said. “This is big-time football. This is the type of game that could change your life and your family’s life. I’m super excited. I know the team is super excited.”
Wisconsin, Alabama come into the game off tough Week 2 games
Both teams enter play with something to prove.
Alabama defeated South Florida, 42-16, last week, but a 28-point fourth quarter by the Crimson Tide created a deceiving final score.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, came from behind to beat Western Michigan in Week 1 and fought off a second-half challenge from FCS South Dakota to win in Week 2. The Badgers rank 13th in the Big Ten in scoring offense (27.5 ppg) and 12th in scoring defense (13.5 ppg). They’re also 13th in total offense (386.5 ypg) and seventh in total defense (249 ypg).
Last week the team played better than Fickell initially thought.
“It was obviously a hard-fought game, but after watching I do feel better about a lot of things, especially defensively,” he said. ”We played better than I actually thought.”
More: Wisconsin football vs. No. 4 Alabama: Game details, four storylines to watch Saturday
Alabama, SEC make rare trip into Big Ten country
The matchup will mark the first time in 53 years that a team from the SEC visits Camp Randall. LSU beat the Badgers, 38-28, in front of a capacity crowd in 1971. The last time Alabama faced a Big Ten opponent on the road was 2011 when the won at Penn State, 27-11.
Wisconsin and Alabama have met twice before. The Badgers won, 35-17, in 2017 in Arlington, Texas. Alabama won, 15-0, in 1928 at Camp Randall Stadium.
Despite the lack of recent history between the programs, Wisconsin has some first-hand experience with the Crimson Tide. Senior center, Jake Renfro, was a starter at Cincinnati when the Bearcats faced Alabama in a national semifinal in 2021. Senior linebacker Jaheim Thomas, another former Bearcats, played in that game but didn’t register a tackle. He transferred to Arkansas last season and finished with 10 tackles and a ½ sack in a 24-21 loss.
And then there is Fickell, who was in his fifth season as Cincinnati’s head coach. Defensive coordinator Mike Tressell and tight ends coach Nate Letton held the same roles with the Bearcats that season.
The Bearcats lost that game, 27-6. Maybe Fickell and Co. fare better this time.
A win would be historic as only twice has a Big Ten team defeated a top-10 SEC team in a regular-season game.
“Growing up it’s the kind of game you dream of playing in, playing against the best team in the country and honestly I look forward to it,” junior receiver Will Pauling said. “I look forward to seeing not only where I’m at but where this team is at. I think it’s going to be a great challenge and I”m ready to go out there and win on Saturday.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-13 07:17:00
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