Wisconsin ends its season with two trophy games, the first of which is a test against Nebraska on the road with the Freedom Trophy on the line. The Badgers are looking for their 11th straight win over the Cornhuskers.

Below are three keys to the game, as well as predictions from the BadgerBlitz.com staff.

When: Saturday, November 23 (2:30 PM CT)

Where: Memorial Stadium (capacity 85,458)

All-time series: Wisconsin leads 13-4 (Wisconsin leads 4-3 in Lincoln)

TV: BTN (Jeff Levering on play-by-play, Jake Butt as analyst and Brooke Fletcher as sideline reporter)

Local radio: Badger Sports Network (Matt Lepay on play-by-play, Mark Tauscher as analyst, Patrick Herb as sideline reporter)

Betting line: Nebraska-1

Projected playing weather: ~56 degrees and partly cloudy

If there’s one benefit to bringing in your offensive coordinator midseason, it’s that the defense isn’t sure what to expect moving forward. The formations and plans can’t change that much in just a week, but Wisconsin can essentially do whatever it wants on offense now, and why wouldn’t it? Might as well be, with an interim offensive coordinator and no clear direction yet for where this unit goes schematically.

Phil Longo had some creative play designs, but he became terribly predictable during his tenure as play-caller in Madison. First downs were almost always running plays. There was little creativity on a play-to-play basis. The defense had plenty of tape to parse Longo’s tendencies, many of which were fruitless.

Now Wisconsin can call whatever it wants and get everyone involved. It is no longer limited by a broken attack system. It could call up any number of plays that the Badgers have never put to tape. The offensive plays will be a joint effort this week, which could mean a Frankenstein-esque game plan with all kinds of concepts and ideologies.

In a similar vein, now that Wisconsin has moved on from its mediocre offensive system, it needs to focus on getting its playmakers involved. The play calling should be somewhat secondary to who gets the ball. Results aside, the Badgers have talented players on offense, some of whom – Trech Kekahuna comes to mind – wasn’t given the right opportunity to shine. Interim play caller Nate Letton should worry less about choosing specific actions, and more about getting the ball into the hands of certain players.

Longo’s system prided itself on taking what the defense gave it, but it still seemed too complicated at times. At some point, the ball simply has to get into the hands of the best attacking players and let them do the rest. Even though the coordinator would tell you that this is exactly what his plan is designed to do, the lack of a concerted effort to get the ball into the hands of players like Kekahuna, Darrion Dupree and even Will Pauling sometimes tells you something different.

The Badgers need to blitz the quarterback Dylan Raiolaand they need to do it early and often. Why wait? Don’t give him a chance to settle down; speed up the true freshman’s internal clock and force him to make mistakes.

According to Pro Football Focus, Raiola’s completion percentage drops by about 22 points when he is pressured from 70.3 to 48.6. So the Badgers have been unable to apply consistent pressure with a four-man front Mike Tressel will have to implement some blitz packages. Against a quarterback who has already played ten collegiate games, the more exotic the better.

It’s a significant difference from facing the FBS’s all-time touchdown leader Dillon Gabriel last week to a quarterback who doesn’t even have a full season of experience under his belt. Tressel’s defense should still be solid, but there could be more room for error and perhaps more green light to be ultra-aggressive.

Both teams absolutely need a win. Nebraska has dropped four in a row. Wisconsin has lost its last three. The Badgers’ precious bowl qualifying series is in grave danger, while Nebraska’s excruciating bowl drought is close to being broken. Both programs deal with internal toil on offense. This game will come down to who wants it more. If the Badgers defense plays with the same intensity as they did against Oregon, I think Wisconsin will pull out a win.

Wisconsin 16, Nebraska 13

I expect a classic Big Ten West slugfest. Both teams have putrid offenses supported by strong defensive play. Except I’d rather trust the defense that limited Oregon to 16 points than the one that couldn’t stop UCLA.

Wisconsin 21, Nebraska 17

Wisconsin was embarrassed by Iowa after a tough loss to Penn State earlier this year. Falling to No. 1 Oregon at home, 16-13, was another blow, and I don’t know how this team will respond on the road against Nebraska. Maybe there’s an energy boost with a change on top of the offense, but I’m going with the Cornhuskers in the area.

Nebraska 24, Wisconsin 21

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