How do the Badgers match up with Michigan?
The Wisconsin Badgers travel to the Big House in Ann Arbor for their first Big Ten road game of the season. Kickoff is at 11:00 A.M. CT on FOX, and 20th-ranked Michigan is a 17.5-point favorite.
Two weeks ago, the Badgers had an abysmally poor performance against the Maryland Terrapins.
Not only did the underdog Terrapins outclass the Badgers, but the Wisconsin student section hurled “Fire Fickell!” chants at the football team at halftime.
With a bye week completed, Wisconsin looks to show some (if any) improvement against a talented Michigan squad.
So, what should Badgers fans know about the Michigan Wolverines?
Opponent Preview
Like Wisconsin, Michigan is coming off its own bye week. Unlike Wisconsin, the Wolverines are 3-1 on the season and earned an impressive 30-27 win at Lincoln under interim head coach Biff Poggi on September 20th.
The headline throughout the offseason and into this season has been 2025 top overall high school recruit, quarterback Bryce Underwood. To this point, Underwood has thrown for 733 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. However, Michigan has been trying to get Underwood more involved in the running game since its loss to Oklahoma, and the results have been positive. Underwood rushed for 114 yards in a 63-3 blowout win over Central Michigan and gathered 61 yards against Nebraska. 37 of those came on this touchdown run.
On the subject of rushing, Michigan ranks second in the Big Ten with 253.5 rushing yards per game.
Leading the way for the Wolverines is Alabama transfer Justice Haynes. Haynes is tied with USC’s Waymond Jordan for first in the conference with 537 rushing yards on the season. The junior running back is averaging a staggering 8.1 yards per carry and 134.3 yards per game.
The Wolverines are not a major passing team, averaging 183.3 yards per game. Indiana transfer wide receiver Donoven McCulley leads Michigan with 197 receiving yards. Second on the team is third-year wideout Semaj Morgan with 143 receiving yards.
According to Austin Meek of The Athletic, since their loss at Oklahoma, the Wolverines’ defense has dialed up more pressure in the backfield by moving inside linebacker Jaishawn Barnham to edge rusher. Barnham now leads the Wolverines in sacks with three. Ernest Hausmann leads Michigan with 29 total tackles, while Cole Sullivan has the most interceptions with two, including one to set up Michigan’s first touchdown against Nebraska.
Score Prediction
The Badgers begin a four-game stretch in conference that will define the Luke Fickell era in Madison. We heard on Tuesday that the team’s culture is “really, really good,” which sounds nice on paper, but results matter. Right now, Badger football is far from really, really good.
I want to believe that this Badgers team, with the best rushing defense in the FBS, mind you, can upset Michigan, but Wisconsin just has not responded well to losses under Fickell. Until we see something different, the Badgers’ losing streak in Big Ten games, dating back to last season, extends to seven games.
Prediction: 35-10 Michigan
Category: General Sports
