In his weekly press conference Monday, head coach Bret Bielema praised some of the key players in Saturday's 83-20 trouncing of Indiana and previewd the Badgers' upcoming game against Big Ten rival Michigan.
Bielema's pick for offensive MVP this week went to someone who normally fails to see much recognition.
Junior fullback Bradie Ewing was awarded the honors for his role in opening holes all Saturday for the running backs, as well as catching two passes for 26 yards. ""[Ewing is] a guy from game one to where he is today, [who] is playing as good of football at that position since I've been here, and [I have] had some good ones,"" Bielema said.
Bielema also gave a lot of credit to freshman running back James White.
White carried the ball 19 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns. For his performance, White was named Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week, an honor he has received three times this year.
The defensive MVP was shared by junior free safety Aaron Henry and junior defensive end J.J. Watt.
Henry had three total tackles and returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown.
Watt, though playing just 34 snaps, was incredibly productive, finishing the game with two fumble recoveries, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.
Bielema also addressed the current health of his team.
Junior running back John Clay, who missed Saturday's game against Indiana, could see some action in this week's game against Michigan, but most of the carries should still to go to running backs Montee Ball and James White once again.
Sophomore center Peter Konz who also missed Saturday's game against Indiana, isn't expected to be in the lineup this week either. The plan is for last week's starter at center, senior Bill Nagy, to again resume that role.
Bielema then shifted his focus to this week's opponent, Michigan.
Michigan (3-3 Big Ten, 7-3 overall) is coming off a 27-16 win over Purdu, and is currently ranked ninth in the country in rushing yards per game, averaging over 263.
The main threat of Michigan's offensive attack is sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson. Robinson leads Michigan in both passing and rushing, while racking up 26 combined touchdowns.
""[Robinson] has a live arm, and because of what he can do in the running game [he] really throws your secondary and linebackers a lot of times into isolated coverages,"" Bielema said.
Robinson has carried the ball almost as many times as he has thrown it, so for the Badgers to be successful,they must force Robinson to be a pocket passer. Robinson has shown that he can be susceptible to bad decisions while in the pocket, throwing four interceptions in his last two games.
Michigan leads the all-time series at Ann Arbor 27-6-0. The Badgers have not won in Michigan since 1994, losting five straight games in Michigan Stadium.
