BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — When it comes to Big Ten Conference football season openers, no opponent has shown up on Wisconsin's dance card more than Michigan.
The schools will begin league play facing one another for the 20th time on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Camp Randall Stadium. Purdue and Iowa are next with 16 and 12 opening-game matchups vs. the Badgers, respectively.
The latest run-in with the Wolverines is a rarity. It marks the second time in those Big Ten openers that both teams are ranked in the Associated Press media poll. Michigan (2-0 overall) is No. 11 and Wisconsin (2-0) is No. 13.
There have been some unexpected tweaks to that script through the years.
In 2008, the unbeaten Badgers were ranked ninth, but dropped a 27-25 decision in Ann Arbor.
In 2005, the Wolverines came to Madison rated 14th only to absorb a 23-20 setback.
In 1981, Michigan was ranked No. 1 when the season began only to suffer a shocking 21-14 loss in Madison.
In 1999, the teams were both ranked for a league opener for the first time when No. 4 Michigan claimed a 21-16 victory over the 17th-rated Badgers at Camp Randall.
There was a 10-year stretch from 1981 to 1990 where Michigan played the Badgers in the Big Ten season-opener. After that upset loss in '81, the Wolverines won nine straight — facing four different Wisconsin coaches — while piling up a 321-84 advantage on the scoreboard.
Schedule-makers in the Big Ten office appear to have struck a better balance. The last time the Badgers faced the Wolverines in the league's season-opener was 2008.
Here are five more things to know:
He Knows Jack
There was a time in Wisconsin history when throwing for 300 yards or more was bad news. Six of the top eight outings in school history came in losses. In all, between Ron Vander Kelen's 401-yard showing in the 1963 Rose Bowl and John Stocco's 301-yard effort in the 2006 Capital One Bowl, Badgers quarterbacks were a combined 5-10 when topping the 300 mark. Things began to change when Paul Chryst took over as full-time offensive coordinator in 2006 and head coach in 2015. His quarterbacks on the list, five in all, are 8-2 when throwing for 300-plus. The latest is junior Jack Coan, who threw for 363 vs. Central Michigan last week.
Signature Moment
Wisconsin ball-carriers have topped 100 rushing yards 437 times dating back to Sept. 21, 1946. That's when Earl Maves recorded the first one in program history. It came during a 34-0 non-conference victory over Marquette. Maves carried nine times for 155 yards, the bulk coming on an 84-yard scoring run off a second-period reverse. Maves was listed at 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds. He was born in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, and was good enough to play in the old College All-Star Game and be chosen by Detroit in the 1948 NFL Draft. Maves wound up playing one game for the Lions. He was 29 when he died of Hodgkin's Disease in 1952. The matchup 73 years later at Camp Randall is meaningful to the moment because, due to military obligations related to World War II, Maves attended and played for Michigan and Wisconsin.
No Guarantees
Going back to the start of the modern era in 1946, Wisconsin has won its Big Ten opener 36 times and failed to finish above .500 in league play on 13 occasions. On the flip side, the Badgers have won three Big Ten championships after losing the league opener (1959, '99 and 2010).
Because You're Curious
The last time the Badgers put together three straight shutout wins was 1937. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the U.S. President. Charles Lindbergh was a headline-making Wisconsin alum. The Golden Gate Bridge was brand new. Since 1900, there have been 13 instances where Wisconsin won at least three consecutive games via shutout. That includes five straight in 1900, '01 and '05.
The Right Direction
One of the most impressive trends of the 56-game Chryst Era is yards per play. It was 5.29 in 2015, 5.45 in '16, 6.09 in '17 and 6.40 last season. After two outings this year that average is a robust 6.85.
