Nebraska Football: Huskers vs Badgers, An Early Look at Wisconsin

The Nebraska Football team will take on their second Big Ten West conference opponent on October 10th when the other big red travels to Lincoln to meet the real Big Red!

Related: An Early Look at Nebraska vs. Illinois

The Nebraska Football team is not the only team in Big Ten West looking to create a new identity with a new head coach; the Wisconsin Badgers have hired a new head coach as well. Wisconsin football fans went into shock when they learned that former head coach Gary Anderson was leaving for the vacant head coaching position at Oregon State, left open by the new head coach at Nebraska, Mike Riley. Confused? So were Badger fans when Anderson took the Oregon State job.

Unlike the Husker’s who hired a coach with no Nebraska ties, the Badgers did hire a coach with Wisconsin ties and who is very familiar with the program. The Badger Athletic Department looked to the Pittsburgh Panthers, to 3 year head coach Paul Chryst.  Paul Chryst was the Wisconsin tight end coach 2002, in 2005 he served as co-offensive coordinator as well as the tight end coach, and from 2006 to 2011 he was the only offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.  As a head coach, Chryst has a meager record of 19-19 with a bowl record of 1-1.

The real question though is how good will the Wisconsin Badger football team be in 2015? Running back Melvin Gordon is gone but junior Cory Clement rushed for almost 1000 yards last season while Gordon took the majority of the snaps gaining over 2500 yards.  If Clement cannot fill Gordon’s shoes, will the Wisconsin passing game be able to carry the team?

Nov 29, 2014; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers quarterback

(2) throws a pass during the first quarter against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Last season Wisconsin senior quarterback Joel Stave threw for over 1300 yards with a completion percentage of 53.4%. The thing was, Stave didn’t really need to be an efficient passer with Gordon on the team, but Stave is a pro-style quarterback who in in his junior and senior year of high school threw for almost 5100 yards. He certainly has the potential to be an effective passer  with the right coaches and receivers. Wisconsin returns their number one receiver from last year in senior Alex Erickson, who had 772 receiving yards.

The Badgers will need to replace three starters on the offensive line. This could be crucial to the Wisconsin run game. They are returning most of the starters on a defense that finished 9th in the country in total defense. They were tied for 8th in passing defense and 24th in rushing defense.

One potential advantage the Badgers could have over the Huskers is Paul Chryst knows the type of offense that Mike Riley runs. For the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Paul Chryst was Mike Riley’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Oregon State.

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Wisconsin leads the series against Nebraska 5-4, but the good news for Nebraska just could be the fact that the Badgers have never won in Lincoln, which accounts for 3 of the Husker’s victories.  The bad news though is that since the Huskers have joined the Big Ten, they have only beaten the Badgers 1 out 4 tries.

This is one tough game to call right now but from seeing the early polls that are out there, Wisconsin has the edge. Athlon has the Badgers picked to finish 20th in the country and 3rd in the Big Ten. I have to believe that the home field will give the Huskers at least a touch down advantage over the Badgers, but we really won’t know for sure until we see how the first part of both their seasons go. This is one game I am just not ready to make any predictions on as of yet but I am certainly hoping for a Husker victory. Go “The Real” Big Red!