WISCONSIN: Five Days and Counting

Coach Bill Lynch's Hoosier squad gets its third chance to become bowl eligible when it takes on Wisconsin Saturday. HoosierNation.com begins its day-by-day preview of the game with "Five Numbers to Note" about the match-up...

5 – weeks missed by senior wide receiver Paul Hubbard with a knee injury. Hubbard was slated to miss 6-8 weeks after suffering the injury Sept. 8 against UNLV, but returned for last week’s 44-3 win over Northern Illinois. Hubbard caught only one pass and played just 29 snaps against Coach Joe Novak’s Huskies, but his return is big for a Badger offense that lost its other preseason starter, Luke Swan, to a torn hamstring muscle two weeks ago. Hubbard will start opposite true freshman Kyle Jefferson, a one-time IU recruiting target from Cleveland’s Glenville H.S. who has caught 18 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns. The 6’4”, 213-pound Hubbard figures to get more involved each week, and he’s going against an IU team that he had his way with a year ago. In Wisconsin’s 52-17 win last season Hubbard produced his first career 100-yard game with a six-catch, 122-yard, one touchdown effort against the Hoosiers.

-6 – the Badgers’ turnover differential this season. Wisconsin has given the ball away a respectable 13 times in eight games, but it’s been on the receiving end of a Big Ten-low seven turnovers from its opponents. By way of comparison, Indiana’s four fumble giveaways in the second half of its 36-31 loss to Penn State was double the two fumbles Wisconsin has recovered all season. When it comes to the Badgers’ miscues,the biggest culprit has been quarterback Tyler Donovan. Donovan has thrown two interceptions in each of UW’s last three Big Ten games and seven in four Big Ten games thus far.

3 – straight Big Ten foes who have scored at least 30 points against the Wisconsin defense. Penn State (d. Wisconsin 38-7) and Illinois (d. Wisconsin 31-26) each produced more than 400 yards of total offense in recent wins against Wisconsin, while Michigan State went for 564 yards in a 37-34 loss to the Badgers Sept. 30. That stands in stark contrast to a year ago, when UW allowed only three teams to score 20 or more points and none to score 30 while compiling a 12-1 record. Wisconsin’s 12.1 points/game a year ago ranked second nationally, while this year’s 23.0 points/game average is a relatively pedestrian 43rd nationally and seventh in the Big Ten.

302.0 – Wisconsin’s average passing yardage totals against IU in the past two seasons. While the last two Wisconsin teams have entered its contests with IU known for its ability to run the ball with Brian Calhoun (in ’05) and P.J. Hill (in ’06), it was the passing of quarterback John Stocco that did IU in each time. With the Hoosier defense crowding the box and daring Stocco to throw in ’05, he responded with a 13-of-24 effort for 274 yards and three TDs in a 41-24 Wisconsin win. He was even better last season, completing 15-of-17 throws for 304 yards and another three scores. During those two games Stocco burned the Hoosier secondary with six completions of at least 35 yards, including four in last year’s 52-17 dismantling.

12 – straight wins for Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium dating back to a loss to Iowa on Nov. 12, 2005. It’s the fifth longest active homefield win streak in the country. Going back a bit further, the Badgers have now won 23 out of their last 24 at home. Indiana is among the victims, losing in 2005, 41-24. One doesn’t have to go back too far, though, to find the last time IU won in Madison. The Antwaan Randle El/Levron Williams-led Hoosiers dismantled Wisconsin on the road in 2001, jumping to a 32-0 first quarter lead on their way to a stunning 63-32 victory over the Badgers.

What’s coming up:
On Monday – Five Numbers to Note
On Tuesday - Four Players to Know
On Wednesday – Three Big Concerns
On Thursday – Two Key Match-Ups
On Friday – One Bold Prediction