Jack Sanborn's steady personality anchors Badgers' defense

UW is in one of the worst offensive stretches it’s had in decades. In three consecutive losses, the Badgers have scored nine or less points, the first time the program has failed to score in double-digits since 1990.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz (above) has missed opportunities for big plays with inaccurate throws and the number of weapons available to the offense continues to dwindle as injuries and COVID-19 issues mount.

After posting one of the best offensive seasons in the history of its program, Minnesota has taken a step back this year.

Losing a talented receiver such as Tyler Johnson to the NFL certainly hurt, but Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan isn’t the wildly efficient passer he was last season and the offense has reflected that. Morgan ranks fourth in the Big Ten at 206.6 passing yards per game and he’s thrown for just five touchdowns.

Minnesota’s special teams have been subpar throughout the year as the specialist groups were among the first to be affected by COVID-19.

Starters missing games has led to the Gophers losing the field-position battle routinely. Mark Crawford has emerged as the top punter after he split time with Matthew Stephenson, but Crawford’s average kick of 38.3 yards ranks second-to-last in the Big Ten.

Paul Chryst and the Badgers need to regroup after a tough few showings. Chryst’s decisions to punt inside the Northwestern 40 on a fourth-and-3 in the first half and to forgo a field-goal attempt early in the fourth quarter didn’t work out. The injury situation may limit what offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph is able to do this week, but UW should have the advantage in the run game to rely on.

Badgers defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard has again built a top-tier defense in college football, and that group is one of the best against the run in the nation.

UW’s pride, especially on offense, has been shot offensively the past three weeks. Minnesota overcame missing about a third of its team last week to beat Nebraska.

How the teams handle their injury and COVID-19 absences this week will likely determine the game. Minnesota had 33 players unavailable last week, while the Badgers had six key players out last week.

In a strength-on-strength battle between Minnesota’s run game and UW’s run defense, the Badgers should be able to win out.

One would imagine the Badgers will study how the Iowa offense steamrolled Minnesota’s defensive front to the tune of 235 rushing yards for some ideas of how to control the game without needing to rely on an ailing group of receiving targets, but if Berger’s not in the backfield, UW doesn’t look to have enough explosiveness at tailback to take advantage.