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    IU football game day: Wisconsin at Indiana primer and prediction

    Mike SchumannBy IU Football 3 Comments

    Indiana officially has no margin error now.

    The Hoosiers need to win all of their remaining four games to qualify for bowl eligibility.

    And the first of those four contests appears to be the most challenging.  In Wisconsin and Luke Fickell, IU will face a program and a coach they’ve defeated just once in the past two decades.

    Here’s everything you need to know for Indiana’s ninth game of the season.

    WISCONSIN (5-3) at INDIANA (2-6)

    • Kickoff:  Noon Eastern, Saturday
    • Location:  Bloomington, Ind., Memorial Stadium (52,626; field turf)
    • Television: BTN — Cory Provus (pbp), Jake Butt (analyst), Brooke Fletcher (sideline)
    • Stream:  Fox Sports
    • Radio:  IU Football radio network
    • Odds:  Wisconsin is a 9.5-point favorite
    • Weather at kickoff:  58 degrees, partly cloudy, wind 8 mph, 0% chance of precipitation.
    • Series:  Wisconsin leads 41-19-2 (last meeting, Indiana 14 Wisconsin 6)
    • The Coaches:
      • Tom Allen is in his seventh year as the head coach at IU.  He holds a 32-46 record.
      • Luke Fickell is 69-28 in nine seasons as a head coach.  This is his first year at Wisconsin.  He previously coached at Cincinnati and Ohio State.

    IU Football Week Ten Coverage:

    TALE OF THE TAPE

    THE COMPLETE BIG TEN WEEK TEN SLATE

    Saturday, November 4, 2023 Football
    Away Home Time Location Links
    Penn State
    Maryland
    3:30 P.M.
    		 College Park, MD  TV: FOX Stats Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network Audio Video
    Wisconsin
    Indiana
    12:00 P.M.
    		 Bloomington, Ind.  TV: BTN Stats Radio: Indiana Sports Radio Network
    Nebraska
    Michigan State
    12:00 P.M.
    		 East Lansing, MI  TV: FS1 Stats Radio: Spartan Media Network Video
    Ohio State
    Rutgers
    12:00 P.M.
    		 Piscataway, N.J.  TV: CBS Stats Radio: WFAN 660-AM/101.9-FM, FOX Sports New Jersey 93.5-FM/1450-AM, SiriusXM 99 or 203, SXM app, Audacy app, Scarlet Knights app Video
    Iowa
    Northwestern
    3:30 P.M.
    		 Chicago, IL / Wrigley Field  TV: Peacock Radio: WGN Radio 720 Video
    Illinois
    Minnesota
    3:30 P.M.
    		 Minneapolis, Minn.  TV: BTN Stats Video
    Purdue
    Michigan
    7:30 P.M.
    		 Ann Arbor, Mich.  TV: NBC Stats Radio: WAZY (96.5 FM) Video

    WISCONSIN RESULTS

    9/2/2023 Buffalo Madison, WI W 38-17
    9/9/2023 at Washington State Pullman, WA L 22-31
    9/16/2023 Georgia Southern Madison, WI W 35-14
    9/22/2023 at Purdue West Lafayette, IN W 38-17
    10/7/2023 Rutgers Madison, WI W 24-13
    10/14/2023 Iowa Madison, WI L 6-15
    10/21/2023 at Illinois Champaign, Ill. W 25-21
    10/28/2023 Ohio State Madison, WI L 10-24

    WISCONSIN LEADERS

    Passing – Tanner Mordecai: 114-of-179, 1,127 yds, 3 TD/3 INT; Braedyn Locke: 55-of-111, 535 yds, 3 TD/1 INT
    Rushing –  Braelon Allen: 130 for 754 yds, 8 TD; Tanner Mordecai: 51 for 160 yds, 4 TD
    Receiving – Will Pauling: 41 for 449 yds, 2 TD; Skyler Bell: 25 for 210 yds, 1 TD
    Tackles –  Hunter Wohler: 78 tkls, 3.5 TFL, 2 INT, 4 PBU; Jake Chaney: 51 tkls, 4.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks, 2 FR
    Sacks – Darryl Peterson: 4.5
    Interceptions Ricardo Hallman: 5

    WISCONSIN NOTES

    • Phil Longo directs Wisconsin’s offense for his first season on Fickell’s staff. With the Air Raid touching down in Madison, the Badgers have still found success on the ground.
      • RB Braelon Allen leads the Big Ten with 99.8 rushing yards per game in conference action. The next highest ypg clip in the conference this season: 70.2 from Michigan’s Blake Corum.
      • Allen left the game in the 2nd quarter vs. OSU and did not return. He had run for 50 yards on 10 carries in the first half. Behind Allen, RB Jackson Acker has taken on a larger role. After RB Chez Mellusi went down with an injury at Purdue, Acker ran for 65 yards on 13 carries vs. Rutgers, both career highs.
    • With QB Tanner Mordecai sidelined by a broken hand, QB Braedyn Locke has slid into the starting role and led the Badger offense.
      • Locke directed the Badgers’ 4th quarter comeback at Illinois on Oct. 14 on his way to earning Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. He completed 21-of-41 passes for 240 yards and 2 scores, both of which came in the 4th quarter to bring the Badgers back from a 21-7 deficit.
    • Safety Hunter Wohler has been a playmaker all over the field in DC Mike Tressel’s system. Wohler leads the Badgers and ranks 2nd in the Big Ten with 9.75 tackles per game this season. Wohler’s 6.1 solo tackles per game are the 3rd most among Power 5 defenders.
    • In the secondary, CB Ricardo Hallman leads the Big Ten and is one of 5 players nationally to grab 5+ INTs. According to PFF, his 97.1 coverage grade this season is the 2nd highest among Big Ten CBs, trailing only Iowa’s Sebastian Castro. Hallman’s 5 INTs are the most for a Badger CB since Jamar Fletcher picked off 6 passes in 2000.
    • Wisconsin’s defense kept them in a closely-contested affair with Ohio State last week. Wisconsin became the first defense to both intercept QB Kyle McCord twice in a game and force 3 Buckeye turnovers this season. Wisconsin’s 4.0 sacks were the most that OSU has allowed in a single game this fall.

    PREDICTIONS

    IU showed last weekend they still have some fight in them.  And Wisconsin has some health concerns at key positions.  That’s enough to make us think the Hoosiers can keep this close.  But not enough to expect a win.

    TDH PREDICTION:  WISCONSIN 27  INDIANA 17

    ESPN SP+ (Computer) Wisconsin 32  Indiana 15

    ESPN FPI (Computer):  Wisconsin has a 77.8 percent chance to win

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