Badgers chasing elusive title
Wisconsin is eager to clinch Big Ten crown
Expectations are high for Wisconsin, but none is higher than those the team has placed on itself.
“Our expectations and our goals inside the room have always been really high. And once you set those, then I think you’ve got to go back, and the only way to reach, obtain those goals, is to take advantage of each day and focus on that,” Badgers coach Paul Chryst said during Big Ten Media Days.
A late loss in the Big Ten Championship Game denied Chryst’s team a shot at the College Football Playoff semifinals, but with the majority of the skilled players back in 2018, it’s easy to see why hopes are high.
Wisconsin is No. 8 in Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel’s preseason 2018 college football rankings. Murschel ranked all 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country. The Sentinel staff takes a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 129 to our projected No. 1 team. Wisconsin
Paul Chryst (34-7, entering fourth season; 53-26 overall)
13-1, 9-0 in Big Ten Conference, first in West Division
Wisconsin used a stout defense to roll to its second straight divisional crown, winning 12 straight games before dropping a hard-fought contest against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship. The loss left the Badgers out of the mix for the College Football Playoff but the team managed a spot in a New Year’s Six Bowl game for the second consecutive season. 2 7
FB Austin Ramesh, TE Troy Fumagalli, DE Alec James, DE Conor Sheehy, LB Garret Dooley, LB Leon Jacobs, CB Nick Nelson, CB Derrick Tindal, DB Natrell Jamerson
QB Alex Hornibrook, RB Jonathan Taylor, WR A.J. Taylor, OL Michael Deiter, OL Jon Dietzek, OL Tyler Biadasz, OL Beau Benzschawel, OL David Edwards, DL Olive Sagapolu, LB Ryan Connelly, LB T.J. Edwards, DB D’Cota Dixon
Alex Hornibrook capped a career-best year by winning Orange Bowl MVP honors after leading Wisconsin to 34-24 win over Miami. The Badgers quarterback passed for 2,644 yards with 25 touchdowns while improving his career record to 20-3 as a starter.
Jonathan Taylor is the next in a long line of powerful Wisconsin running backs. Taylor smashed the FBS single-season freshman rushing record previously held by Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson when he racked up 1,977 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2017. His performance earned him a sixthplace finish in the Heisman Trophy voting.
Once again the Badgers feature one of the best offensive lines in the country led by a trio of All-Americans in guard Beau Benzschawel and tackles Michael Deiter and David Edwards. The unit has more than 150 combined career starts.
For the second time in the past three seasons, Wisconsin featured the No. 2 overall defense in the country. The Badgers limited opponents to 13.9 points and 262 yards per game in 2017. The Badgers need to make up much of the production from last season following the departures of four of the team’s top seven tacklers and eight defensive starters.
The Badgers have enough pieces to contend for a conference championship, but they face tough road games against Iowa, Northwestern and Purdue.