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Last week the Wisconsin Badgers went to its home away from home, getting the first ever regular season victory over a SEC opponent. The 16-14 victory over LSU sent shockwaves throughout college football, if for no other reason than UW’s ability to hold star running back Leonard Fournette largely in check.
While that win was important, it means nothing if the Badgers can’t build off of it and that starts with getting a win in the Camp Randall debut for the 2016 team agains the Akron Zips.
There is no big name like Fournette on the Zips team, but this is a program that made a bowl appearance last year and will present their own challenges to the Badgers. So, let’s take a look at Akron’s offense and what it presents to Wisconsin.
Starters:
WR (X): Jerome Lane – Jr. (6-3, 220) — 10 receptions, 196 yards, 2 touchdowns
WR (Y): JoJo Natson – Sr. (5-8, 151) — 4 receptions, 90 yards, 3 touchdowns
WR (Z): Austin Wolf – Jr. (6-3, 190) — 4 receptions, 82 yards, 1 touchdown
TE/HB: Christian Allen – Sr. (6-1, 252) — no stats in 2016 yet
LT: Logan Tuley-Tillman – Jr. (6-7, 309) — former 4-star recruit, transfer from Michigan
LG: Stephen Ericksen – Jr. (6-3, 300) — 2 career starts (1 at center last season)
C: LaVonne Gauthney – Jr. (6-1, 290) — plays both center and tight end, will start at center in this game
RG: Kyle Ritz – So. (6-5, 300) — 6th career start (5 starts at right tackle in 2015)
RT: Jovann Letuli – Jr. (6-5, 345) — 2nd career start at FBS level, previously a two-year JUCO starter
QB: Thomas Woodson — Jr. (6-1, 233) — 23-32, 407 yards, 6 touchdowns, 1 INT; 5 carries, 13 yards rushing
RB: Warren Ball – Sr. (6-1, 232) — 18 carries, 110 yards, 1 touchdown
Team Rankings:
Akrn Offense Rankings: (Stat/MAC/National) *according to CFBstats.com
Total Offense: 576.0 ypg — 2nd — 17th
Scoring Offense: 47 ppg — 4th — 32nd
Passing Offense: 425.0 ypg — 1st— 9th
Rushing Offense: 151.0 ypg — 9th — 72nd
Badgers Defense Rankings: (Stat/B1G/National)
Total Defense: 257.0 ypg — 5th — 34th
Scoring Defense: 14.0 ppg – 9th — 45th
Passing Defense: 131.0 ypg — 2nd — 28th
Rushing Defense: 126.0 ypg — 10th — 67th
Advanced Stats Look:
*via Football Outsiders and Football Study Hall (stat/national rank)
Kent State Offense:
S&P+ offensive rating: 32.8 (40th)
F/+ ranking: -22.3% (95th)
Points Per Scoring Opp.: 6.12 (22nd)
Offensive Success Rate: 46% (43rd)
Wisconsin Defense:
S&P+ defensive rating: 13.8 (13th)
Def. Points Per Scoring Opp: 2.33 (t-20th)
Opp. Success Rate: 35 % (t-56th)
(if you don’t know what these are, please see the link above as they tell you a lot about what to really expect out of an opponent in the early part of the season)
What to Take Away From the Stats:
It is hard to take much stock of a team in one week of action, but with advanced stats it helps us put some things in perspective. Akron was about as efficient offensively as possible in Week 1, ranking inside the top 50 in things like Points Per Scoring Opportunity and Offensive Success Rate. That means this team took advantage of the opportunities it was given. Luckily, Wisconsin doesn’t exactly give up a ton of opportunities to opposing teams. In fact, during Week 1 against LSU, the Badgers defense allowed LSU inside the red zone on only one offensive possession all game long.
One may try and point to Wisconsin’s sub-par opponents success rate, but the key to understanding that stat is to know that UW only allowed 12 drives and three scoring opportunities all game long. Simply put, there was little room for LSU to do anything against the Badgers defense. Now look at Akron’s information and you’ll see why the gaudy team stats may be a lie heading in to this weekend’s matchup.
3 Keys to Badgers Success:
Dominate the Line of Scrimmage: This is always a key to Badgers success on defense, but after largely controlling the line of scrimmage against LSU this will be a step down. Not playing down to the level of competition will be important in showing the country this team is for real. Akron came in to this season with just two starting offensive linemen with starting experience and all five majority starting linemen gone from last season. It should be a huge advantage to the Badgers.
GREEN BAY, WI – SEPTEMBER 03: Chikwe Obasih #34 of the Wisconsin Badgers tackles Leonard Fournette #7 of the LSU Tigers during the second half at Lambeau Field on September 3, 2016 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Dealing With the Spread: LSU’s offense plays right in to the wheel house of Wisconsin’s defense. There’s little doubt that smash-mouth football is up UW’s alley, but going from that physical game to a complete spread offense predicated on passing all over the park is a totally different animal. While LSU’s wide receivers were nice, Akron has plenty of weapons to throw at UW on the outside and plans to use many more triple and quad-wide receiver sets than LSU could ever dream up.
Any time you are throwing for over 400 yards, have a wide receiver nearly going for 200 yards and six passing touchdowns it has to be a concern. Let’s also remember this is a secondary that is going to be challenged in ways it has yet to be challenged. Winning that game and shutting down the pass game of the Zips is going to be a major key.
Continue to Force Turnovers: One of the biggest calling cards of Justin Wilcox-coached defenses have been their ability to create turnovers. It was about the only thing Wisconsin struggled with under former DC Dave Aranda. Wilcox’s pedigree was on full display in the opener, with the Badgers nabbing two interceptions, causing two fumbles and recovering one of those fumbles. All were key to Wisconsin earning victory, but can the Badgers keep up that kind of level of performance? If so, it is just another thing for opposing offenses to worry about — you know besides Vince Biegel, the tackling machine that is Jack Cichy and that other Watt brother to name a few issues UW causes.
The post Badgers Opposition Research: Scouting the Akron Offense appeared first on Madtown Badgers.
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