The UW football team looks to remain undefeated Saturday as it will face No. 23 Michigan State (4-0) at Camp Randall Stadium.
The No. 9 Badgers are riding a 13-game winning streak dating back to 2006, the longest streak in the nation. Their stretch of success is the second-longest streak in school history behind a 17-game streak from 1900-02. Head coach Bret Bielema stressed the ‘1-0’ approach of his team when asked about the streak at his weekly news conference.
“I think because of the way we handle our program, we don’t have to do anything different,” Bielema said. “As we have more and more wins in this program, people expect more and more things. That’s natural. That’s human nature. But as a head coach, and as a group of players, what we focus in on is Michigan State.”
UW’s most recent win came last Saturday with a 17-13 triumph over Iowa in front of the fifth-largest crowd in Camp Randall Stadium history. A two-yard plunge by sophomore tailback P.J. Hill put the Badgers (4-0, 1-0) up for good with 9:42 left in the final quarter. Senior kicker Taylor Mehlhaff added a crucial field goal with just over two minutes remaining for the final tally.
The Badgers racked up 101 yards on 21 carries in the fourth quarter alone and held the ball for more than 11 minutes in the period. Hill and sophomore Lance Smith carried the load for UW.
“I told the guys there at the end of the game, right in the locker room there, this is classic Wisconsin football,” Bielema said following the game. “It was a knock-down, drag-out, four-quarter game, and we took advantage of our opportunities.”
The Spartans cruised to a 31-14 victory at Notre Dame last Saturday to remain undefeated on the season. First-year head coach Mark Dantonio drew the praise of Bielema at his weekly news conference.
“I was very excited for Mark to get a job,” Bielema said. “I just wasn’t excited that it was in the Big Ten because he’s an extreme disciplinarian, they’ve got good athletes there, and you can see he’s got them believing in what they’re saying.”
Michigan State has a balanced offensive attack, averaging just over 200 rushing yards and 215 passing yards per contest. The Spartans’ tailback tandem of Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick has combined for 699 yards on the ground, and both backs are in the top-10 in the conference in rushing.
“I think offensively they do have talent at all positions,” Bielema said. “Michigan State always has athletes, and now what they have is they have a group of athletes that are playing together as one. And those running backs, anytime you have two guys back there that can churn yardage the way they can, they both are gifted athletically and know their roles and their schemes, and that presents a challenge for you defensively.”
In addition, the average size of the Spartans’ starting offensive line is 6’ 5 1⁄2’’, 305 lbs. Defensive line coach Randall McCray knows that the play of his line will be key to controlling Michigan State’s offense.
“Their backs are great,” McCray said. “Both those guys know how to run the ball and get vertical, their offensive line is humongous. So controlling the line of scrimmage will be a big part of it.”
Defensively, Spartans defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic will be tough to contain, as he is the current leader in the Big Ten with six sacks and five forced fumbles.
