Northwestern @ Wisconsin preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 4, 2014 ) Wisconsin 14, Northwestern 20

Wisconsin has an outside shot of overtaking unbeaten Iowa in the Big Ten West for the right to play in the conference championship game, but it will have no chance if it can’t produce a sixth straight victory this weekend. The 20th-ranked Badgers look to avenge their only regular-season Big Ten loss from a season ago on Saturday when they host No. 21 Northwestern.

The Hawkeyes dealt Wisconsin a 10-6 setback in Madison to open league play, leaving the Badgers in a position where they must win their final two games – including next week at Minnesota – and hope for a pair of losses from Iowa if they want to visit Indianapolis in December for the second straight year. Wisconsin nearly had its first hiccup since the conference opener its last time out, but the top-scoring defense in the country clamped down after giving up 17 first-half points to help the Badgers record a 31-24 win over Maryland. Last year, Wisconsin’s dream of a perfect Big Ten regular season was thwarted in early October by the Wildcats, who pulled out a 20-14 victory behind three interceptions from safety Godwin Igwebuike and 162 yards rushing from Justin Jackson. Northwestern has no chance of overtaking Iowa, but remains on track to set a single-season school record for victories if it can win its final two contests and its bowl game.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network. LINE: Wisconsin -10

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten): Jackson, a sophomore, ran for 116 yards in last week’s 21-14 win over Purdue, putting him over 1,000 for the second straight season and allowing him to pass Kain Colter for eighth place on the school’s all-time list. Sophomore running back Solomon Vault, who paced the Wildcats with 53 yards receiving last week, is averaging a conference-leading 28.8 yards on kick returns and already owns the school’s single-season (two) and career (three) records for kickoff-return scores. Anthony Walker Jr. recorded at least 10 tackles for the third straight game and the fifth time this season, giving him 91 for the season – the fourth-best total in the Big Ten.
ABOUT WISCONSIN (8-2, 5-1): Fresh off his 113-yard, three-TD performance in his return after a seven-game layoff following sports hernia surgery, running back Corey Clement was sidelined again in the Badgers’ Nov. 7 win over Maryland and did not practice during the team’s bye week. His status for this contest is uncertain, although coach Paul Chryst told the Wisconsin State Journal that it will be his (groin and conditioning) and not his hand – injured during an altercation outside his residence on Nov. 8 – that will be the determining factor. Joel Stave, who became the third Badger to throw for 7,000 yards in his career against the Terrapins, can tie Brooks Bollinger for the most wins by a quarterback in school history (30) with another this weekend.

EXTRA POINTS
1. Wisconsin has given up a total of three touchdowns in six home games and is allowing only five points per game at Camp Randall this season.
2. The home team has won each of the last eight meetings dating to a 47-44 double-overtime victory in 2000 by Northwestern in Madison. 3. WR Alex Erickson’s 63 receptions matches Lee Evans (2001) for the most catches by a Badger through the first 10 games of a season. Evans went on to set the school record with 75 catches that year.

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 27, Northwestern 13