Big Ten Daily (Sept. 10): Does Wisconsin Stand a Chance vs. Alabama?
The stakes are about to get a lot higher in Madison. After playing Western Michigan and South Dakota in the first two weeks of the college football season, Wisconsin welcomes No. 4 Alabama to Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday. It's a huge opportunity for Luke Fickell and the Badgers.
Mentally, Wisconsin has been preparing for this Week 3 showdown for quite some time. Luke Fickell said that some have been discussing this SEC-Big Ten clash since the beginning of spring practice.
"Our guys understand, our guys are much more aware — so, this had been something that had been talked about since spring football," Fickell said during his Monday press conference. "Not by me. I'm not standing up, saying, 'Hey, this is Alabama week.' We work on the rivalry weeks, we talk about the teams that we play historically. We don't talk about some of these games, but our guys are all aware of it."
It sounds like Wisconsin has the right mindset entering Saturday's game. But do the Badgers have the players necessary to compete with one of the country's top teams?
Let's be honest, through the first two weeks of the season, Wisconsin has been less-than-impressive. It took a muffed punt late in the season opener to defeat Western Michigan. After starting off fast against South Dakota last Saturday, the Badgers were in a dogfight with an FCS program.
Wisconsin averaged just 4.2 yards per carry against those two opponents, with Chez Mellusi, Cade Yacamelli and Tawee Walker taking a bulk of the carries. Tyler Van Dyke hasn't done anything flashy under center thus far. The offensive line looks like it needs some work.
Have the Badgers been playing it safe, knowing the Crimson Tide were coming to town in Week 3? Or is this a "you get what you see" Wisconsin team? I guess we'll find out Saturday.
One thing is for sure, though, Fickell and the Badgers are embracing the challenge of playing one of college football's premier programs in nonconference play.
"If you want to be the best, then you want to compete with the best and you want to play the best," he said. "This just gives you that opportunity, regardless of what they're ranked.
"Over the last 20 years, who's been the best team in college football? There's been no doubt it's been Alabama."
PJ Fleck shouts out Northern Illinois
The weekend couldn't have gotten much better for PJ Fleck. Not only did Minnesota post an impressive 48-0 victory over Rhode Island to get the first win of the season, his alma mater, Northern lllinos, upset Notre Dame in South Bend.
Fleck, who played at Northern Illinois from 1999-2003, gave a major shoutout to the Huskies and coach Thomas Hammock during his Monday press confernece.
"It was tremendous," Fleck said. "Coach Hammock and I were college roommates. It's your alma mater, so, once a Husky, always a Husky. It was so good to see.
"I'm so glad Coach Hammock is back at our alma mater, representing the NIU Huskies. I'll say this to everybody, if you got a chance to watch (Hammock's postgame interview), I think it's gone viral, that is Thomas Hammock. His postgame speech — he loves Northern Illinois. He loves his players. That was real, true, authentic Thomas Hammock."
Northwestern's ugly statistic
After two weeks of college football, Northwestern has joined (not so) elite company. David Braun's squad is one of just five FBS programs that has yet to throw a touchdown pass.
The other four programs that have not thrown a touchdown pass through the first two weeks are Notre Dame, Miami (Ohio), Western Michigan and Air Force.
The Wildcats could've used a touchdown pass on Friday night, falling 26-20 to Duke in double-overtime to fall to 1-1 on the season.
Northwestern has struggled through the air early in the 2024 season. Quarterback Mike Wright has thrown for just 336 yards and completed less than 58% of his passes in two games. He's thrown an interception without a touchdown pass.
The Wildcats rank 17th in the Big Ten in passing offense and 108th nationally.
Related Big Ten stories
WEEK 2 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Kyle Monangai (Rutgers), Xavier Scott (Illinois), Tez Johnson (Oregon) and Nick Marsh (Michigan State) took home Big Ten honors in Week 2. CLICK HERE
BIG TEN WEEK 2 OVERREACTIONS: A rabbit on the field in Evanston, Northern Illinois steals thunder from Illinois, Indiana might still be scoring points and a lot more in the Big Ten overreactions. CLICK HERE
BIG TEN WEEK 2 POWER RANKINGS: Both Nebraska and Illinois are on the rise after big wins over the weekend. The Huskers took down Colorado while the Fighting Illini knocked off Kansas. CLICK HERE
DUSTIN SCHUTTE