Wisconsin Badgers 2017 Preview: ON FREAKING WISCONSIN!!!

If you look around Madison this time of year, you can tell what’s on the horizon. Students are beginning to return. Bars are filling up. I’m getting annoyed with the bars filling up. Hippie Christmas is approaching. People are practicing their “jumping up and down repeatedly” skills. There’s an excitement in the air. Guys and gals, Badger Football season is a mere four weeks away. FOUR FREAKING WEEKS!!!

(See you soon gorgeous! Photo Source: Pinterest.com)

Coming off a very successful 2016 campaign, the Badgers head into this season one of the favorites to win the Big Ten Championship. With a schedule that features more traps than the Cave of Wonders, the Badgers will look to build off a strong showing last season with hopes to secure their fifth appearance in the Big Ten Championship game for a chance to win their fifteenth Big Ten Championship.

(Abu, don’t touch anything. We gotta find that lamp. Lamp = Michigan Game. Make it to the Michigan Game. Source: Aladdin (1992) The Walt Disney Company)

2016: Year in Review

(The day we covered the sprea….I mean, the day we won the Cotton Bowl. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

2017: Looking Ahead

Looking forward into the 2017 season, expectations are very high. This season’s schedule is incredibly favorable for another successful campaign. There were plenty of key losses on both sides of the ball, but two years of solid recruiting under Paul Chryst, as well as a healthy amount of returning starters, put the Badgers in a solid position to not feel the pains of college football roster turnover.

Offense:

Alex Hornibrook returns for his sophomore season and will lead an offense that will stay consistent with the ideals of Wisconsin football. Expect a lot of backfield touches out of Bradrick Shaw (RS-SO) and Chris James (RS-JR, Transfer from Pittsburgh). The tailback position could become an even more competitive position if Taiwan Deal (RS-JR) is able to return to full health and be the tailback he was recruited to be. Troy Fumagalli (RS-SR) and Jazz Peavy (RS-SR) are expected to be the lead a deep group of throwing targets for Hornibrook, who looked stellar last year throwing for 9 touchdowns and 1,262 yards, all the while sharing signal calling duties with Bart Houston. The focal point of the Badgers offense, as usual, is the stellar offensive line. This year will be no different. Heading into training camp, Chryst and company are retooling an offensive line that helped propel the Badgers to 203.1 rushing yards per game one year ago. Filling the hole left by 1st round pick Ryan Ramczyk will be Michael Deiter (RS-JR), who will probably be moving from the interior line to left tackle. Deiter will carry some higher expectations as he heads into the 2017 season on numerous preseason watch lists. Opposite of Deiter will be redshirt sophomore David Edwards who played in 12 games a season ago. Tyler Bladasz (RS-FR), Beau Benzschawel (RS-JR) and Jon Dietzen (RS-SO) will join them and be looking to hold down the interior line. (Benzschawel is on the Outland watch list heading into the season.) Not only does the line have skill, they also carry a solid amount of depth into this season. This is a unit that may change as training camp progresses.This is an offense that doesn’t have to be stellar. With a defense that will keep the score low, the Badgers set themselves up nicely with an average to slightly above average offense. When the offense performs at peak levels, the Badgers can easily mark a “W” in the result column week in and week out.

(Did you know: The Badgers QB is from the Philadelphia area? Did you know: NobodySports formed in the Philadelphia area? Photo Source: M.P. King, Wisconsin State Journal)

Defense:

The Wisconsin Badgers defensive coordinator position has been the launching pad for the two previous occupants of the position. Dave Aranda left two seasons ago to go make a buttload of money as defensive coordinator at LSU and subsequently got beat in his first game. Justin Wilcox went on to become the head coach at Cal. Stepping up to the plate this season is Ladysmith, Wisconsin’s own Jim Leonhard. Leonhard’s story is common lore around these parts. He famously walked onto the Badgers, and went without scholarship until his senior season in Cardinal and White. After his incredibly successful Badger career, Leonhard went on to have a respectable NFL career. During this time, he was famously a late round Madden fantasy draft for yours truly on a yearly basis. But all careers in the NFL must come to an end, and Leonhard retired. Between his retirement and being named Defensive Backs coach in 2016, Leonhard studied common college football defensive schemes under (at the time) Badger defensive coordinator, Dave Aranda. After only one season as defensive backs coach, Leonhard was promoted to defensive coordinator heading into this offseason. Leonhard will hopefully bring some sense of stability to the position and stick around for maybe back-to-back seasons (something the Badgers haven’t experienced for three years). I don’t foresee him going anywhere really because is there a more Wisconsin guy than Jim Leonhard?

(In Jim We Trust! Photo Source: Larrybrownsports.com)

On the field, the Badgers return a unit that has been (pardon the ridiculously overused sports trope) a force to reckoned with over the last few years. The names are going to be quite familiar to the Badger faithful. Jack Cichy (RS-SR), Conor Sheehy (SR), Chikwe Obasih (RS-SR), TJ Edwards (RS-JR), D’Cota Dixon (SR), Derrick Tindal (SR), Natrell Jamerson (SR). Those were all names that Bucky Nation can probably reference without hesitation when asked the question, “Who do the Badgerss have on defense?”. And in all honesty, with good reason. These guys should be household names by now. Last season, the Badgers ranked fourth in scoring defense, seventh in yards per game, and third in rushing defense. Statistically, this was an elite defense a year ago. And while the losses of TJ Watt, Vince Biegel, Soujourn Shelton, and Leo Musso hurt, this team is built to replace those losses. Let’s face it, the Badgers defense is going to do what they alway do. And that’s exceed expectations year after year. And even though this year the expectations are very high, expect them to be exceeded. That was a lot of “ex” sounds in the last two sentences. Might have to think about labeling this article NSFW.

 (Conor Sheehy. Coming to an offensive backfield near you. Photo Source: UWBadgers.com)

Special Teams:

Rafael Gaglianone (JR) is healthy. He’s going to make kicks if he stays healthy. Jazz Peavy is probably going to break a kick for 80 yards only to get it called back because of an illegal hand motion. It’s Badger football. Something dumb is bound to happen to us. And that wraps up special teams talk.

(Our Kicker is Brazilian. That means he basically can kick like Pele. Photo Source: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Record: 12-0, and (PREPARE YOUR FACES!!!) our first trip to the College Football Playoff

Again, this is a favorable schedule this year. It’s not really that far out of the realm of possibilities to be headed into the Big Ten Championship game undefeated. There are plenty of traps on this schedule, but great teams are like Indiana Jones; they overcome traps. And trust me, this is Raiders of the Lost Ark quality team. Did I lose you there? Basically, what I’m trying to say is that this is a great team. Heading into each game, this team should be favored to win every game. Michigan coming into Madison on 11/18 is going to be an all day affair as College Gameday starts around eight in the morning. I’ll see y’all on Bascom Hill bright and early that day. If you’re doubting that Herby and the boys will be in Madison, I beg you to look at the slate of games that weekend and find a game that will even hold a candle to that one. I’ll wait. Did you look yet? See, told ya. Expectations (again with the “ex” sound) are high for this Badgers season. And they should be. This is a great program. This season will prove that.