The start of the 2023 Wisconsin football season is still a few months away. This is a good time to look at the schedule and see when the best games will be. After looking at what the toughest games will be this seasons, I thought I would look at three potential trap games on the schedule. Every team has them.
At Purdue (September 23)
All signs point to a down year for the Boilermakers. They lost a ton of players from the team that went to the Big Ten Championship game a year ago. The biggest loss was quarterback Aidan O’Connell. He was awesome throwing the ball and racked up a ton of yards.
Purdue now has 37 year old first time head coach Ryan Walters at the helm. Walters spent the last few seasons as the defensive coordinator at Illinois. He was behind the scheme that allowed the Badgers to only score 10 points at home. That would ultimately be the final game for Paul Chryst. West Lafayette has become a tough plaice to play. It won’t be easy as Wisconsin goes for their 17th straight win against the Boilermakers.
At Illinois (October 21)
Speaking of replacing a quarterback, Illinois has to replace Tommy Devito who was stellar on his only year there. The Illini have a lot of players to replace including Chase Brown, who was a majority of the offense. Stud defenders Devon Witherspoon and Sydney Brown have left as well.
Former Wisconsin head coach and current Illinois head coach Bret Bielema doesn’t need anymore motivation to beat his former team. After a 34-10 home loss last season, Wisconsin looks to rebound. Illinois won’t be afraid and despite a likely down year, it won’t be an easy task on the road.
Nebraska (October 18)
There could potentially be a lot riding on the home finale. First, Wisconsin could be playing for a Big Ten West title on their home field. Obviously there would have to be a number of things that would need to happen. Second, senior day is always an emotional time for players, families, and coaches.
There’s a lot of buzz going around in Lincoln with the hire of first year head coach Matt Rhule. Rhule comes to Nebraska after a tough start to his NFL coaching career with the Carolina Panthers. Prior to that, Rhule had successful stops at Baylor and Temple. Wisconsin has won nine in a row against the Cornhuskers. With the Freedom Trophy on the line, the Badgers can’t slip up with so much potentially on the line.
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