Wisconsin Badgers
Northwestern
Baggot: Five Things to Know vs. Northwestern
November 11, 2021 | Football, Andy Baggot
Insight and quick hits on the Badgers’ matchup with the Wildcats
BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin football team is quietly closing in on a most impressive feat.
On Oct. 2, the Badgers were 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten Conference. It was their poorest start since 1990 and the first time they had opened league play 0-2 since 2008.
Those were some ominous realities. Going back to 1889, no UW team had ever begun a season 1-3 and finished with a winning record. Going back to 1896, no Wisconsin club had opened league play 0-2 and finished over .500 in the Big Ten standings.
Yet with three regular-season games remaining, the No. 20 Badgers are 6-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play heading down the stretch and are bowl eligible for the 20th consecutive season. They have won five straight and are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since late September.
Most important is that Wisconsin controls its path in the Big Ten West Division. It faces Northwestern (3-6, 1-4) on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Camp Randall Stadium with a chance to secure its 20th straight season with a winning record overall and 13th consecutive year with at least a .500 mark in league play.
Here are five more things to know:
Stingy is a Virtue
Wisconsin has limited opponents to 1.90 yards per rushing attempt this season, which is a rarity. Since 2000, there have been only six other instances where a Football Bowl Subdivision club held foes under 2 yards per rush attempt for an entire season. TCU did it in 2008 (1.72) and '02 (1.98); Michigan did it in '06 (1.87); USC and Ohio State did it in '03 (1.84 and 1.95, respectively); and UAB did it in '01 (1.89).
Defining Moment
The winner of this West Division matchup between Wisconsin and Northwestern has gone on to play in the last five Big Ten championship games. UW won the head-to-head meeting in 2019, '17 and '16. The Wildcats prevailed in 2020 and '18.
Strange, But True
This might seem far-fetched seeing how the Wildcats rank 120th in the FBS in scoring offense at 18.2 points per outing, but consider this: UW is 176-2 in games in which it scores 40 or more points going back to 1890. The only losses came at the hands of Northwestern in 2000 (47-44) and 2005 (51-48).
Thou Shalt Taketh Away
The Badgers have forced an FBS-best 13 turnovers over their last five games. For perspective, the 1998 defense had a five-game stretch with 17 takeaways and the 2010 unit had 16 over five outings. The most productive five-game showing during the Paul Chryst heading coach era was in 2016 (14 takeaways).
Rush to Judgment
No FBS club has run for more yards than Wisconsin has over its last five games. The Badgers have amassed 1,419 yards — an average of 270 per outing — while scoring 14 rushing touchdowns.
