Freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan has led a strong Cardinal squad to a spot in the Rose Bowl |
The 12 Days of BCS will provide you with everything you need to know for the five BCS games starting on New Year's Day. Each day will be a different subject finishing on New Year's Eve.
Wisconsin vs. #6 Stanford
To say this is the least expected matchup of the BCS bowl season might be a bit of an overstatement, but it's still a surprise. Of course, no one predicted Northern Illinois to sneak into a BCS bowl, yet I'm not sure anyone saw Wisconsin sliding into a game against Stanford either.
The Badgers took advantage of a horrendous Leaders Division (finished 4-4) in the Big Ten to earn a championship game vs. a highly overrated Nebraska team. On cue, that Cornhuskers squad self-destructed in the second quarter on the way to a crushing and embarrassing 70-31 defeat to a motivated Badgers squad. Despite, coming into this bowl unranked and at an ugly 8-5 record, Wisconsin isn't that bad. Their preseason rank of #12 might be appropriate if they had some more luck. Three of four losses this season came in overtime to the likes of Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State.
Led by Montee Ball, this team is your classic Big Ten, smashmouth football team. They have a strong defense which ranks 19th in points allowed and they're 12th in rushing with Ball having over 1,700 yards and 20-plus touchdowns.
But they're matching up against a extremely intelligent and well-coached defense in Stanford. If Wisconsin can't establish any type of running game on then this could be a long game. Both of these teams are on a mission to prove their worth, even though Stanford comes in ranked sixth nationally.
For Stanford it'll be interesting to see if emerging freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan can continue his strong play. Stepfan Taylor should make his life easier as he always does, but this will be one of the best defense he's seen all season. The bright lights of the Rose Bowl also should apply added pressure to the youngin', but he took care of business in the Pac-12 Championship Game and it wouldn't be surprising if he did it again.
As for the game, it could be a beatdown, drag 'em out kind of defensive struggle. However, as we saw Oregon bring the best out of Wisconsin's offense last season, I think we'll see Stanford push the tempo in the way its used to. I think Wisco will actually keep up, but it won't be enough against a Cardinal defense that is sizzling hot as of late.
Stanford 41, Wisconsin 28
0 comments:
Post a Comment