The college football season is just over one month from kick-off, and training camp is even closer with the first whistle expected to start in the early days of August.
In preparation for the season, the Hoosier is previewing each of Indiana's opponents this season in order. The coverage is part of our expansive preview of the Hoosier's upcoming season under Tom Allen.
SEE ALSO:
Big Ten head coaching tiers entering 2023 season
Predicting the 2023 All-Big Ten defense
GAME INFORMATION
Date: November 4
Time: TBD
TV: TBD
2022 RECAP
Wisconsin's 2022 season was thrown into a shock when the Badgers fired head coach Paul Chryst following a 34-10 loss to former head coach Bret Bielema and Illinois in Camp Randall stadium.
The decision to fire Chryst was seen as a surprise, but the Badgers had faltered in recent seasons with Chryst going 7-8 in his final 15 games vs. Big Ten schools after an incredible 36-11 start to his Badger tenure as Wisconsin's head coach.
Many expected Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh to hire long-time defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard as head coach, but he instead made the splashiest hire of the offseason, convincing former Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell to leave the Bearcats for the Big Ten, a league he played in at Ohio State and coached at in with the Buckeyes as an assistant and a one-year interim season with Ohio State following the tattoo investigation in the early 2010s.
Fickell has a 64-25 record as a head coach, and led Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff in 2022 -- the only Group of Five school to ever make it to the CFP. Since taking over as Cincinnati's head coach, 16 Bearcats were drafted, including a school-record nine in the 2022 NFL Draft.
RETURNING STARTERS
Offense: 10
Defense: 8
Wisconsin returns plenty of key players from last season's roster, which was greatly bolstered in the transfer portal with pieces from Fickell's Cincinnati team and other notable players from Power Five schools.
Gone is quarterback Graham Mertz, but replacing Mertz is SMU transfer Tanner Mordecai, who has thrown for close to 7,800 yards and 76 touchdowns in his five college seasons. In his last two seasons at SMU, Mordecai completed 39 and 33 touchdown passes with at least 3,500 yards in each season. he also completed at least 65 percent of his passes in each season.
Mordecai will throw to a new group of receivers in 2023 -- and a more talented group. Wisconsin returns Chimere Dike, Keontez Lewis and Skyler Bell at receiver, but also added add playmakers with Oklahoma State transfer Bryson Green (584 yards in 2022), CJ Williams (USC) and Will Pauling (Cincinnati).
Running back Braelon Allen returns after a second-straight season with at least 1,200 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Now a junior, Allen and Chez Mellusi are the two backs for Wisconsin's rushing attack which might look different this season -- more on that later.
The Badgers return four starters from their offensive line a year ago and add two transfers from Cincinnati that could also start. In total, Wisconsin has 97 starts returning across their offensive line, including tackle Jack Nelson, who started all 12 games last season.
Defensively, the Badgers return eight starters, but do lose key contributors -- and leaders -- Nick Herbig and defensive tackle Keeanu Benton. Incoming defensive coordinator Mike Tressel inherits a deep defensive front with five of six key contributors returning and the move of CJ Goetz and Darian Varner (Temple transfer) to the defensive line.
The secondary appears to be the weakest unit of Wisconsin's defense entering the season with three key contributors and a rotational defensive back all departing. But Wisconsin added transfers Alexander Smith from the transfer portal and Austin Brown -- a former four-star prospect -- could be primed for a breakout.
OTHER PREVIEWS
Week 1: vs. Ohio State
Week 2: vs. Indiana State
Week 3: vs. Louisville
Week 4: vs. Akron
Week 5: at. Maryland
Week 7: at Michigan
Week 8: vs. Rutgers
Week 9 at Penn State
PRESEASON PROJECTION
New offensive coordinator Phil Longo is changing the scheme the Badgers run. Gone is the under-center power run scheme that Wisconsin has run since the 1990s when Barry Alvarez ignited Wisconsin into the program it is today.
Longo runs an air raid offense and comes to Wisconsin after previous coaching stints at Ole Miss and more recently North Carolina. He runs an air raid, but he believes in running the football with three NFL Draft picks at running back during his time at North Carolina, so expect Allen to still be a regular force in the Wisconsin offense.
Wisconsin's modernization this offseason could come with some growing pains early in the season. But Fickell is a proven head coach and he has a talented, high-floor roster that could play for the Big Ten with a strong first season. Though, an early season road trip to Washington State and a crossover game vs. Ohio State is a challenge. Plus, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois figure to be formidable opponents in the division.
There's a path for Wisconsin to be one of the biggest surprise teams in the country this season if everything comes together. But if the large scheme changes and the philosophy differences prove to be too much in one offseason
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