Week 2 Pregame Fresno State Bulldogs @ Wisconsin Badgers

The Badgers come into week 2 of the young college football season in a 10 way tie for first place at a record of 1-0. That number is sure to go down as big games within the Big Ten are Ohio State vs. USC and Notre Dame vs. Michigan. Wisconsin, however, draws the Fresno State Bulldogs out of the WAC conference. The Badgers have a few concerns that fans will hope to be answered in this game against the Bulldogs after they were not answered against the Northern Illinois Huskies. Those two questions are what happened to the Badgers prolific rushing attack? And will the Badgers play all four quarters with the same intensity?

The first question is brought up because Wisconsin’s two top running backs rushed for under 100 yards combined. This stat is very scary seeing as they have been well known for their fantastic rushing attacks over the years with tail backs such as Ron Dayne, Michael Bennett, Anthony Davis and most recently P.J. Hill. Also, the Badgers are well known for their large, bulky offensive line that has always been very strong running lines usually averaging 300 lbs. per person. The second question comes about because of the way Wisconsin finished their game against the Northern Illinois after 3 quarters and almost gave up the lead in the 4 th quarter because of the lack of effort. Especially going into the Big Ten schedule, the Badgers need to keep their intensity up and battle all four quarters of the game and avoid letting the opposing teams come back like they did.

But, once again, it is time to know the opponent that Wisconsin will be going into battle against this Saturday. The Fresno State Bulldogs, out of the WAC conference, comes to Camp Randall stadium to take on the Badgers fresh off of their crushing victory over the University of California Davis, 51-0. The Bulldogs were not really challenged in their week one matchup as they were able to pull their starters before the halftime gun fired. Freshmen quarterback Ryan Colburn will lead his team after passing for 161 yards throwing 5 of 9 with 1 touchdown pass. The rushing threat was even less relentless as Fresno State starting running back Ryan Mathews rushed for 106 yards on 11 carries. The biggest run being a 60 yard touchdown scamper. Mathews would not even make halftime as he was pulled after a quarter and a half before giving way to freshmen back up running back Robbie Rouse. Rouse would put up similar numbers rushing for 75 yards on 10 carries and his own rushing touchdown.

Defensively, outside of the fact that they would shut out UC Davis, linebacker Nico Herron was able to find the end zone for the first time in his college career and would go on to become the WAC defensive player of the week. The bulldogs are run by head coach Pat Hill, who is currently running his 13th year at the controls.

This game should be a much closer game than what was anticipated against the Northern Illinois Huskies, which is concerning considering that NIU mounted a huge come back to make that game close. Fresno State is going to make the Badgers play their A game to beat them and this will be good starting test to see just how well they will do as we approach the Big Ten conference schedule. To win, the Badgers are going to have to play Wisconsin Badger football, which is pounding the ball up the middle with the run game and managing the clock. If Wisconsin is able to win the Time of Possession battle and be successful on the ground, they will be in good shape for this game against Fresno State, especially with their revitalized defense, led by captain Chris Maragos.

> More 2009 College Football Previews from CollegeSports-fans.com