By Jordan Hansen
Part six in the Big Ten football summer previews — Wisconsin.
When Wisconsin football steps on the field in 2016, there’s a pretty good chance it remains near the top of the Big Ten West standings throughout most of the year.
In what’s become fairly normal for the Badgers, the offense line will be one of its strengths this season. The unit returns four starters from a year ago, all of whom are approximately the size and shape of Mongo.
Seriously though, people aren’t kidding when they talk about how Wisconsin goes after massive linemen. The four returning starters (Beau Benzshawel, Michael Deiter, Jacob Maxwell and Dan Voltz) plus 332-pound freshman mammoth Jon Dietzen average combined weight runs a little over 315.
They’re tall, too. Only Voltz is listed at less than 6-6.
However, even with all the size and weight, the Badgers offense still sputtered at times last year. Youth was certainly a factor in some of that and as a result, the group being considered a ”strength” hinges a lot on their progression.
But I would be remiss to not mention that the Badgers finished 10th in total rushing offense in the Big Ten last season. In fact, Wisconsin hadn’t finished out of the top four in the conference in team rushing yardage since 2005.
The Badgers also gave up 24 sacks, the eighth-worst mark in the conference. However, not everything was the offensive lines fault — far from it, in fact.
Corey Clement was supposed to be the next in a long line of great Wisconsin running backs, but due to injury and disciplinary issues, he only played in four games.
In his steed, running back Dare Ogunbowale got plenty of work, tallying 819 yards and seven touchdowns on the year. Solid numbers, but there is little doubt Clement is the better choice between the two.
Another major issue for the Badgers is at quarterback, which only makes things a headache for other parts of the offense. Running against a stacked box is difficult without a truly elite back and a strong passing attack normally opens things up on the ground.
Wisconsin has two major options at the position: fifth-year senior Bart Houston and true freshman Alex Hornibrook. Neither has separated himself and the position battle will be fun to watch as the summer drags on.
Defensively, the Badgers also lose a lot, especially in the secondary. Both starting safeties are gone, as is cornerback Darius Hillary.
It certainly is far from doom and gloom for the Badgers though and linebacker Vince Biegel returning for his senior season was a huge win. The senior had 14.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks last season, second only to fourth-round draft pick Joe Schobert in both categories.
The front seven has long been one of Wisconsin’s strengths and don’t expect the coming season to be any different. Finding a solid defensive core won’t be difficult on this team and if the offense can take a bit of pressure off of them, look out.
If things go as planned, Wisconsin could very well find itself contending for a spot in the Big Ten Championship.
That said, if things do not — and there’s a whole host of things that could go wrong — there could be trouble in Rock Ridge.
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