Wisconsin has racked up impressive November records in recent years. The Badgers will try to continue the trend against Indiana.
The Wisconsin Badgers (4-1 Big Ten, 7-2 overall) face the surging Indiana Hoosiers (2-3 Big Ten, 4-5 overall) this Saturday at Camp Randall.
Wisconsin is no stranger to winning in the month of November, especially at home.
It could be that the Badgers are used to playing in the cold weather, or that they play better in the clutch, but since 2006 the Badgers are a Big Ten leading 11-1 at home and 24-4 overall in November.
“We don’t really think about when we win, we’re always just trying to win. I think the later it gets in the season the more the guys realize what’s at stake, but we always try to play with the same caliber week in and week out,” defensive coordinator Dave Aranda said.
Indiana is coming off a strong offensive performance last week against Illinois (0-5 Big Ten, 3-6 overall) and has scored more than 30 points in all but two games this season.
The Hoosiers put up 52 points last week and won the contest 52-35.
Many players contribute to the offensive success of Indiana, however junior wide receiver Cody Latimer will likely be the toughest matchup for the Badgers secondary.
Latimer, who has 884 yards and eight touchdowns this season, set career highs in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns last week.
He hauled in 11 catches for 189 yards and three touchdowns as his offense blasted the Fighting Illini defense.
Sophomore cornerback Darius Hillary will line up against Latimer on Saturday due to his height and physicality. Freshman cornerback Sojourn Shelton will be on the opposite side of the field but may help in coverage.
“Sojourn is kind of the odd man out this week. [Sojourn] is best when he is playing smaller, shiftier guys. If there are big guys that can push him off, he is at a disadvantage. That was the reason for the move,” Aranda said.
Hillary has matched up against tough receivers in the last couple of weeks, like Arizona State’s sophomore wide receiver Jaelen Strong. He doesn’t seem nervous at all when asked about what he needs to do in order to be prepared for Latimer.
“I’ll be the right cornerback this week and it’s going to be an exciting matchup,” Hillary said with a smile. “He’s tall and athletic but we’re not going to do anything differently. We face good wide receivers here, every matchup is tough. Sometimes when you try to adjust your game, you can’t seem to find your rhythm,” said Hillary.
The Badgers secondary will certainly be outsized by the tall and athletic Latimer, who is 6 feet 3 inches and can jump out of the building.
Aranda believes that the speed of his secondary will make up for their lack of height.
“We’ve got some corners that can run, they’re just not 6’2” or 6’3”. We will have to help each other in order to be successful,” Aranda said.
Besides Latimer, the Hoosiers have many offensive weapons. Sophomore running back Tevin Coleman leads the Big Ten in rushing touchdowns and is third in the conference for rushing yards and yards per carry.
Unfortunately for the sophomore, he sprained his ankle last week in Indiana’s win over Illinois and is expected to miss this Saturday.
Backup running backs have been effective for Indiana this season and will need to continue that trend against the 10th-ranked Badgers defense.
Wisconsin realizes the strength of the Hoosiers backfield and will prepare as if Coleman was playing. Indiana’s senior running back Stephen Houston enters this week’s game with 536 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
“You don’t want to see anyone injured like that, but their whole offensive is explosive.
It takes away from their run game but they do have another running back who is
really good. It doesn’t really take away from [the running game] a lot because we still have to prepare for [Houston] and he is a great player,” Shelton said.
Practice for the defense this week has not been anything out of the ordinary despite having to prepare for Latimer and a backup rushing unit. No major changes will be made on offense or defense.
“Just do what we do. Stay disciplined in coverage, make sure our eyes are in the right spot. Like I said just stay disciplined and know where your help is,” said Shelton.
Head Coach Gary Andersen knows how well Indiana can play and can not help but be concerned.
“This will be a tremendous challenge for our back end on defense. We’ll see how this game goes. This is a very, very good offense, the more I’ve watched them on tape the more concerning they’ve become as far as how potent these guys are,” Andersen said.
For Wisconsin, most adjustments will be made during the game when necessary.
The Badgers will hope to improve their already remarkable win percentage in November against a tough but injured Indiana Hoosiers team. Kickoff will be at 11:00 a.m.
