The Ohio State football team faces Wisconsin in another tough road matchup against Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers.

The Ohio State Buckeyes will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to face the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night with kickoff set for 7:30 pm. Both teams lead their respective divisions and are coming off wins.

Wisconsin sits at 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten West, with every other team in the division with at least two conference losses. They have done it with a steady dose of running the ball on offense and not giving up too many points on defense.

They started the year 4-1 with wins at home against Buffalo, Georgia Southern, and Rutgers, and a road win at Purdue. They lost 31-22 to a solid Washington State side in week two and recently lost to Iowa 15-6. They responded with a big 25-21 road win against Illinois last weekend.

The offense was led by Senior transfer Tanner Mordecai, who spent three seasons as a backup at Oklahoma followed by two solid seasons as the starter at SMU. In his first season as a Badger and last in college, he has thrown for 1,127 passing yards but has more rushing touchdowns (4) than passing touchdowns (3). He has three interceptions on the year. Sophomore wideout Will Pauling leads the team with 37 receptions and 398 receiving yards. Mordecai, however, is OUT with a broken throwing hand injury, so Braedyn Locke will start again in his absence.

Junior running back Braelon Allen is the best player on offense and leads the team in carries (120), rushing yards (704) and touchdowns (8). The offense puts up 26.9 points per game and 397 yards per game. Junior safety Hunter Wohler leads the team with 70 tackles on the year and has four passes defended with two interceptions. They allow just 196.3 passing yards per game and 137.3 on the ground.

Junior quarterback Kyle McCord continues his solid play through the air and now sits at 1,937 passing yards on the year. Completing 63.9 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and just one interception, he is starting to find his groove. Junior wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. continues to show his brilliance and already has 42 catches, 766 receiving yards, and six touchdowns on the year.

Four other Buckeyes have at least 171 receiving yards, including Senior tight end Cade Stover who is second on the team in catches (27) and receiving yards (429). With junior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka coming back from injury, freshman wide receiver Carnell Tate has done well in his absence.

Speaking of absence, junior running back TreVeyon Henerson continues to fight off a lingering injury and missed another big game last week. Sophomore running back Dallan Hayden was the dominant presence in the banged-up running back room against Purdue but did not see the field against Penn State. Senior running backs Miyan Williams and Chip Traynaum battled against the Nittany Lions and are the only locks to receive handoffs this weekend. Henderson still leads the team in rushing yards (295), yards per carry (6.7), and rushing touchdowns (5). Williams and Trayanum both have at least 158 rushing yards and three touchdowns each.

The defensive line for the Silver Bullets was huge against Penn State and if they can contain Badgers running back Braelon Allen, the defense will be in good hands. The secondary will need to prevent the big play and keep everything in front of them. The Badgers’ offense will want to run the ball and eat the clock, so an early Buckeye lead will do numbers for their success on the defensive side. The Buckeyes allow just 260.1 total yards per game and just 100.6 on the ground.

Getting several players back on both sides, especially offense, will be crucial and appreciated as a night game in Madison is never easy. The spread opens at -14.5 for Ohio State, with the over/under sitting at 43.5 total points.