The Badgers may see some rainbows and a wave or two, but it won’t be a vacation for Wisconsin (2-1) as they take on Hawaii Saturday night. Coming off its convincing win over Troy, UW is rightfully bringing some confidence into this game, but the 2-1 Rainbow Warriors are much more intimidating than their historical performance suggests.
New Hawaii offensive coordinator Don Bailey brought his fast-moving spread offense to the island state, and it has brought them a lot of success through the air and on the ground. It keeps the quarterback from having to do too much, and it tires out opposing defenses that aren’t quite sure what to expect each play.
“Every play they have, there’s a run and pass at the same time,” defensive coordinator Dave Aranda explained. “So they stretch the field, and when they line up those number one receivers, they’re past the numbers. They’re two yards from the sideline, so you’re incredibly stretched.”
Bailey’s offense runs what are called packaged plays, meaning that the play call features both a run and a pass, and the quarterback decides which they will execute after he snaps the ball. The offensive line run blocks, and the quarterback reads the defense in the half second he has between the snap and the handoff to decide whether he wants to actually hand the ball off, or keep it and throw.
The throw on packaged plays has to be very quick because the ball must come out before the offensive linemen get too far down field and draw a penalty.
Furthermore, the quarterback has the option to keep the ball and run it himself, so essentially it’s a triple option with two runs and a pass.
Not all of the Rainbow Warriors’ offense is based on packaged plays, though. They’ll hurry to the line of scrimmage as if they’re going to run another run-pass option, and with defenses scrambling to line up, they’ll have the quarterback take a full five or seven step drop and attack the defense vertically, especially over the middle. “They stretch you that way, with [the] quick game, but then the quarterback, when he has time to throw in the pocket, he can hit those touches on the deep ball, and it makes you nervous that way for sure,” Aranda said.
A big part of defending this Hawaii run-pass attack falls on the linebackers, particularly on the inside. When redshirt junior quarterback Max Wittek is making his reads on the options, the linebackers are his primary read. If they step up to stop the run, there will be space open behind them to throw to, and if they wait for the QB to make his read, the offensive line and running back will have the momentum and the advantage up front.
The Wisconsin inside linebackers have been a major storyline since the first quarter last weekend when junior Leon Jacobs was ejected for targeting. He won’t be suspended, but he may still lose some time, as the team was very impressed with his replacement, freshman Chris Orr. After taking over for Jacobs, Orr racked up a team-leading 14 tackles, making a name for himself on this already stacked defense.
Aranda admitted this week that Orr practiced with the starters and that both will see playing time Saturday. The two will rotate in next to T.J. Edwards, but the redshirt freshman isn’t concerned with it affecting the defense.
“That’s the thing, we’re all so connected,” Edwards said. “We all know all the plays and all the calls. It’s awesome because one guy can just come in right in sync.”
They’re definitely going to have to be in sync as they are challenged by this Hawaiian offense. To take some pressure off of this Wisconsin defense, the Badgers’ offense needs to continue to find success. The Rainbow Warriors have a strong front seven that won’t make it easy on the UW rushing attack.
“We just need to come out hard, come out fast, and come out with a purpose,” redshirt junior running back Dare Ogunbowale said. “That was the message that the coaches gave the entire offense [last week], so we’re going to try to replicate that this week.”
Both offenses are going to come out hard, fast, and with a purpose, and Hawaii should provide a different kind of test for the Badgers this week. Playing in Wisconsin will be a bit different for the Rainbow Warriors, and the only wave they’ll be able to find will be the one started by the student section sometime in the first half.
Kickoff Saturday is scheduled for 7 p.m.
