No. 11 Wisconsin (3-0) at No. 8 Michigan State (2-0) Football: Everything You Need To Know

WISCONSIN -- A formidable foe awaits Wisconsin as it travels to East Lansing, Michigan to battle Michigan State.

The Badgers will need to improve their performance considerably from Saturday’s 23-17 home victory over winless Georgia State if they have any hope of upsetting the Spartans. After a strong start to the season, Wisconsin came crashing down to earth Saturday and actually trailed the Panthers 17-13 in the fourth quarter before scoring the game’s last 10 points.

BADGER QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY

The Badgers’ offense struggled so mightily, quarterback Bart Houston (10 of 18 for 91 yards) was benched in favor of Alex Hornibrook, who threw a fourth-quarter touchdown and managed 122 yards in the air.

To complicate matters, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported late Sunday that quarterback Alex Hornibrook rescued the Bucky last Saturday against un-ranked Georgia State.

However, on Monday, coach Paul Chryst's depth chart showed Bart Houston as the starting quarterback. Chryst subsequently dodged answering who would start by telling reporters that the team needed both quarterbacks to be ready to play, according to a UPI report this week.

RUNNING OUT OF RUNNING BACKS

The Wisconsin backfield tandem of Dare Ogunbowale and Bradrick Shaw combined for 127 yards on the ground on 35 carries, which was somewhat of a bright spot, especially when juxtaposed with the team’s stout run defense that held Georgia State to 33 rushing yards on 24 carries. Wisconsin will need to continue stifling the run against Michigan State, who ran for 260 yards in a 36-28 win over Notre Dame.

A potential problem for the Badgers, though, is three of their top four running backs are injured and could miss the game. Ogunbowale is the only healthy back and will be relied on heavily, which is a concern when going against the Spartans’ defense.

Kickoff time: 12 p.m. ET

TV and radio: Big Ten Network, Badger Radio Network
Point spread: Michigan State is favored by 6 points, according to scores and odds.
Tickets: Tickets are available atthe Michigan State football website.

image credit: CC BY 2.0 uwdigitalcollections - Boxing Bucky Uploaded by nusumareta