Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Wolverines Football: Everything You Need To Know

WISCONSIN -- Few teams in the country have faced a more difficult schedule than Wisconsin. The Badgers have squared off against highly ranked opponents LSU and Michigan State and beaten both. Wisconsin’s reward for such stellar play is a trip to Ann Arbor to battle No. 4 Michigan.

The Tigers and Spartans were both favored over the Badgers and Wisconsin again enters Saturday’s heavyweight tilt as the underdog. Redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook got his first start against Michigan State and he excelled, throwing for 195 yards and a touchdown in the stunning 30-6 rout in East Lansing. The Wolverines’ defense has been mostly dominant this season, but has broken down at times, specifically in a 45-28 win over Colorado. If Wisconsin is to pull off another upset, Hornibrook will need to continue his solid play against the occasionally spotty Michigan secondary.

The Badgers only ran for 122 yards against the Spartans, with Dare Ogunbowale (55 yards) and Corey Clement (54 yards) accounting for most of the output. That duo will be expected to improve on their total to help prevent Hornibrook from attempting to do too much. Another unit expected to provide a big lift is the defense, which was tremendous Saturday, holding the Spartans to only two field goals and allowing only 75 yards on the ground. Wisconsin also intercepted Michigan State quarterback Tyler O’Connor three times.

Injuries for Wisconsin:

Kicker Rafael Gaglianone will miss Saturday’s game with a back injury. Gaglianone injured his back sometime this week in an unspecified incident. Gaglianone is 7 for 8 on field goals so far this season. Place kicker Andrew Endicott, a senior from Roseville, CA will take his place against Michigan. He has not attempted a field goal this season.

Running back Bradrick Shaw is out, and fellow ball carriers Taiwan Deal and Corey Clement are listed as questionable.

On defense, the Badgers suffered a huge blow when senior outside linebacker Vince Biegel was sidelined after suffering a broken foot last week. Natrell Jamerson and Chris Orr are out for the this week as well.

Kickoff time: 2:30 p.m. CT
TV and radio: ABC, Badger Radio Network
Point spread: Michigan is favored by 10.5 points, according to scores and odds.
Tickets: The game is sold out. But tickets are available on the secondary market at sites like Stubhub.com.

Image Credit: Phil Roeder from Des Moines, IA, USA via Wikimedia commons