In one of the hottest match-ups of the New Year, the No. 6 Stanford Cardinals take on the unranked but hungry Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. New Years Day at 5 p.m. EST.
The Badgers may be coming into the Rosebowl unranked, but the team is riding high after a commanding, shocking victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big Ten championship, which could be the extra motivation Wisconsin needs to compete with the powerful Cardinals. The team will certainly need all the luck it can get lining up against Stanford's much praised rushing defense, which is No. 3 in the FBS.
Stanford is looking red hot right now. The Cardinals have played some of their best football all season in the last few games, beating the No. 17 UCLA Bruins two weeks in a row to capture the Pac-12 championship. Freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan is no doubt much of the spark behind the team's renewed fire. Since Hogan took the starting position midway through the season, the Cardinals have gone 5-0.
Stanford clearly had a better season compared to the Badgers, but Wisconsin could still pull out another surprising win, especially with three-time Rose Bowl winning coach Barry Alvarez returning to lead the team. The athletic director was asked by Wisconsin's senior captains to come back and coach this game after Bret Bielema left for Arkansas, and Alvarez accepted the challenge.
Considering that fantastic victory over Nebraska, as well, the Badgers may have finally found the rhythm they were searching for all season long. The team looked better against the Cornhuskers than it has all season, unleashing a tweaked offense that it hadn't revealed all season long. Wisconsion rushed for 539 yards and scored a towering 70 points.
While Stanford's defense is rightfully one of the most lauded in the NCAA, Wisconsin's running attack is nothing to be scoffed at, either. Between running back Montee Ball, who will be finishing his college career at the Rose Bowl, Melvin Gordon, who rushed for 216 yards in the Big Ten title match, and James White who ran for another 108 that game, if the Badgers can get their running game working smoothly early on, this could prove to be a much closer game than many anticipate.
With starting quarterback Joel Stave injured earlier this season, and mediocre Curt Phillips starting in his place, that's the best case scenario for the Badgers' offense if the team even hopes to compete with Stanford's monolithic linemen. If Stanford can contain Wisconsin's running game, the Badgers will likely be scrambling for a new game plan in real time. Stanford's linebacker group in its 3-4 attack is one of the best in college football. Seniors Trent Murphy and Chase Thomas have a combined 33.5 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks, while Shayne Skov led the team with 72 tackles.
The Badgers may have one of the most underrated defenses in college football. The team's defense ranks 19th in college football with just 19.1 points allowed per game. Of course, they haven't met with an offensive unit as hot as Stanford's has been over the last seven weeks of the season; much of the game depends on which Wisconsin team shows up.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
