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| Al Borland's son, Chris Borland |
To explain why Wisconsin struggled in 2012 one should look no further than Russell Wilson’s excellent debut season in the NFL. Without Wilson at the helm the Badger quarterbacks failed to get the ball to talented receiver Jared Abbrederis and had a disappointing 7-5 season.
They rebounded at the end of the season with a 70-31 dismantling of Nebraska in the Big Ten Championship Game and a strong showing in a 20-14 Rose Bowl loss to Stanford as quarterbacl Joel Stave finally began to come into his own.
Stave should get the call at QB this season and will focus on honing in on Abbrederis. Montee Ball is gone at running back but the Badgers are deep at that position as usual and speedster James White should fill in nicely.
The offensive line is young but has talent. Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig will likely shuffle the line until he gets the look he wants.
On defense the Badgers are led by the flannel adorned son of Tool Time’s Al Borland, Chris Borland. I can never pass up a Home Improvement joke. The real Home Improvement will be what defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and Borland do to a defense that was already decent in 2012.
The Badgers finished 17th nationally in scoring defense but are looking to blitz more this season. They have a talented defensive line with three starters in Ethan Hemer, Beau Allen and Pat Muldoon. Borland will be joined by returning starting linebacker Ethan Armstrong and converted defensive ends Brendan Kelly and Tyler Dippel who will serve as pass rushers at OLB. The secondary is young and will need to come around quick.
I have Wisconsin at 8-1-3 with a loss at Ohio State and push games against Northwestern, Penn State and at Arizona State. If Wisconsin can beat the Sun Devils they could have a very successful start to the season.
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