As the Wisconsin Badgers and No. 13 LSU Tigers prepare for the Jan. 1 ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida, they do so with stripped down versions of themselves.
With a more accessible transfer portal and increased focus on NFL Draft preparation, the current state of college football certainly overshadows bowl season. And with both teams losing key players to the transfer portal and NFL Draft, this game embodies the modern times of the sport.
However, a New Year’s Day matchup still holds significance.
“It’s still a huge deal for us,” tight end Hayden Rucci told BadgerBlitz. “It’s still the Wisconsin Badgers going out there.”
Without their own experienced players, Wisconsin will get the chance to play LSU’s less experienced players and get an idea of what their team might look like next season.
Among the departed players are running back Braelon Allen, center Tanor Bortolini and cornerback Jason Maitre, all of whom declared for the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, wide receivers Chimere Dike and Skyler Bell, linebacker Jordan Turner, defensive lineman Rodas Johnson and offensive lineman Trey Wedig all entered the transfer portal.
Wisconsin will certainly miss the production of those players as six of the seven listed are regular starters.
Allen was Wisconsin’s most prominent star, leading the team in rushing with 984 yards and 12 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Bortolini provided stability at center, starting all 12 regular season games. Dike and Bell were the team’s leading receivers in 2022 and were effective in the passing game this season.
Defensively, Turner and Johnson were reliable starters who the Badgers will miss against LSU.
With a long list of starters out, Wisconsin will have no choice but to turn to their younger players.
However, players are confident their less-experienced counterparts will step up to the occasion.
“We got guys here ready to step up and take their place,” offensive lineman Jack Nelson told BadgerBlitz.
Starting at running back, backups Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli will play in place of Allen. Acker and Yacamelli handled Wisconsin’s running game when Allen missed multiple games during the regular season and will once again take the reins come Monday.
In Allen’s absence, Acker rushed for 236 yards and a touchdown, while Yacamelli accumulated 124 yards of his own. Monday’s game will provide the two running backs a chance to get a leg up on the 2024 depth chart.
In place of Bortolini, center Jake Renfro will get his first opportunity to play as a Badger. Renfro, a transfer from Cincinnati, missed a large portion of the regular season with a sprained right foot and was never able to gain regular playing time. But with the ReliaQuest Bowl looming, Renfro is ready to get the ball rolling with the Badgers.
“I’m ready to go. All the rust has been knocked off,” Renfro told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
With the wide receiver position taking a hit due to the transfer portal, reserves Vinny Anthony, C.J. Williams and Trech Kekuhana will be thrust into larger roles for Wisconsin.
Anthony, a sophomore, has played in five games this season for the Badgers, picking up 84 yards on seven receptions while also supplying a special teams presence.
Williams was a coveted transfer from USC last offseason but has played sparingly in his time at Wisconsin. With the wide receiver room decimated by the departures of Dike and Bell, Williams may have an opportunity to create a name for himself in this year’s bowl game.
Lastly, freshman Kekahuna has created a name for himself among his teammates this year and is slated as the backup slot receiver headed into the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Defensively, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Curt Neal looks to step in for the departed Johnson. Neal has played as a reserve in all 12 games this season but will play a much larger role on Monday. With the defensive line being a largely unproven position for Wisconsin, any strides made by Neal will be noticeable and may make headways going into 2024.
At linebacker, Wisconsin will look to freshman Christian Alliegro to step up and provide depth without Turner. Allegro played in every game this season for the Badgers and recorded four tackles and a sack in his limited playing.
With an increased workload set against LSU, teammate Hunter Wohler expressed confidence in Allegro.
“He is really smart, for one,” Wohler told BadgerBlitz “And he is a really good athlete. And when you have those two together, it makes it dangerous.”
While college football’s mid-level bowl games may have lost some luster in recent years, the ReliaQuest Bowl still provides Wisconsin plenty of value. Although Wisconsin will be missing key players, less-experienced players will gain valuable in-game playing time and give the coaching staff a jumpstart on the 2024 depth chart.
But, more than that, it’s an opportunity to bring home some postseason hardware and compete as a team one last time in the first year of the Luke Fickell era.
“Every time you get to step onto the field and play is valuable,” Wohler said. “There’s nothing better. You get to go out there and compete.”
