Quick Hitters: Early breakdown and initial thoughts on Wisconsin

The Indiana football program looks for its first Big Ten win of the season on Saturday as the Wisconsin Badgers head to Bloomington.

Siting at 2-6, Indiana is 2-21 in the last 23 Big Ten contest.

Wisconsin enters at 5-3 on the season and 3-2 in Big Ten play.

Here are some early thoughts on Wisconsin and the matchup.

Braelon Allen the key to everything the Badgers do on offense. Allen is not only the top running back in the Big Ten but he is also one of the most effective across college football. Because of that, most of the Wisconsin success on offense is a direct result of Allen. He has 754 yards and eight touchdowns through eight games. He also averages 5.8 yards per carry as well. At 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, Allen is extremely difficult to take down and when you add in his elusiveness as a runner, it’s a terrific combination. The number for him and Wisconsin is 100. The Badgers are 17-2 in Allen’s career when he rushes for at least 100 yards. This season, they are 4-0. In all of Wisconsin’s losses, he has rushed for an average of 52.3 yards per game (3 games). He’s averaged just 11.7 carries in those three losses, however. If Wisconsin has to play from behind, it’s a major detriment to the offense and not having the luxury of Allen on the ground. He did leave late in last week’s loss to Ohio State with a foot injury and his status is TBD this week.

Braedyn Locke growing up in the last thee games. The redshirt freshman is now the starting quarterback for Wisconsin after Tanner Mordecai went down with a season-ending injury. Locke has thrown for 527 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the last three games, with two games against some of the top defenses in the Big Ten (Iowa, Ohio State). Locke led a come-from-behind victory against Illinois in his first career start and has played nearly clean football for his two starts. If Locke has to move forward this week without Allen, however, things could get dicey. Indiana’s defense found some momentum against Penn State last week that could lead to a second-half revival from that unit.

Wisconsin seeing a surging pass defense in recent weeks. The Badgers have seen its pass defense become very disruptive in Big Ten play. In five games, it has allowed just five touchdowns and also totaled five interceptions. Opposing quarterbacks are also completing just 53 percent of their passes. There have been just three opposing receivers that have had a game of over 60 yards in Big Ten play, one being Marvin Harrison Jr last week. Indiana football has had two of its three lowest passing game totals since Rod Carey took over three weeks ago.

Will Pauling is one of the best possession wideouts in the conference; little from the receiving room besides him. Pauling has had a terrific season in an offense that is still inconsistent under Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo. Pauling has 41 receptions for 449 yards and two touchdowns this season and ranks fourth in receptions in the Big Ten. Only one other wide receiver has over 20 receptions. Pauling has five games with at least five receptions and three games with at least seven. He also has 60+ yards in four games this year.

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