Rose Bowl 2011: Why Wisconsin Football Will Beat TCU
The Rose Bowl.
Grandaddy of them all.
And this year's matchup is even more hyped than the usual, as it features the Non-AQ conference David, TCU, against the BCS conference Goliath, Wisconsin.
Or so TCU and Boise State fans would have you think.
While the Badgers are from the Big Ten, they have been fairly pedestrian over the last 10 years, and have not reached a BCS game in that span.
TCU played in a BCS game last season.
TCU is favored in the Rose Bowl.
And if you think TCU is going to beat Wisconsin in this game, then this is the place for you to be...
Here are the reasons Wisconsin will beat TCU in their tilt on January 1st.
O-Line
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Not to beat a dead horse, but one cannot talk about the Badgers success this season without at least mentioning the offensive line.
While Gabe Carimi and John Moffit garnered most of the preseason notice and the postseason accolades, the entire O-line has been very, very good.
The O-line has paved the way for 46 rushing touchdowns and allowed only 12 sacks on the season...
Opportunistic Defense
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The Badgers defense has taken its lumps.
First they allowed 380 yards to a middle-of-the-road Pac-10 team in Arizona State...
Then, in the loss to Michigan State, the defense was torched for almost 450 yards, showing evidence that the loss of star linebacker, Chris Borland was having an effect.
That being said, the Badgers definitely pulled it together, only allowing 18 points to Ohio State, and getting stops when needed to pull out a less-than-pretty win at Iowa.
The most interesting statistic about this version of the defense, is its turnover margin.
The Badgers where plus-14 on the season, and while quarterback Andy Dalton has been very efficient for the Horned Frogs this season, expect the UW defense to force at least one mistake.
Consider that the supposedly stellar TCU defense is plus-nine this season, and one can see that the Badgers have a shot to force some mistakes.
Quarterback Efficiency
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When one hears about the TCU offense, the understanding is that Dalton makes the team tick.
He is a very accurate quarterback, who can scramble when needed.
That being said, the Badgers have an incredibly accurate signal-caller of their own.
Fifth-year senior, Scott Tolzien threw only six interceptions this season on 245 attempts and completed over 74 percent of his passes.
While he is not the type of quarterback to throw for huge amounts of yardage per game, Tolzien fits the Wisconsin scheme perfectly, and can bail out the Badgers run game and stretch the field if needed.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Lance Kendricks
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Tight End Lance Kendricks should have won the Mackey Award for the nation's best tight end.
Kendricks averaged over 16 yards per catch, and displayed incredible talent both catching the ball and blocking in the Badgers run game.
He is a matchup nightmare, as a converted wide receiver, he is too fast for most linebackers to cover, and too tall for most defensive backs to out-jump.
Possibly the most interesting matchup of the game will be who Gary Patterson and his coaching staff try to cover Kendricks with.
J.J. Watt
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Watt is a playmaker.
There is no other way to put it.
Watt forces fumbles, tips passes and brings down ball-carriers with reckless abandon, finding ways to wreak havoc on opposing teams' game plans.
If he is not double-teamed, expect a forced fumble and at least one batted ball from Watt in this one...
Ball Security
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This game may come down to turnovers.
Both teams are efficient with the ball, but the Badgers are incredible.
On 538 rushing attempts this season, Wisconsin only lost fumbled balls three times.
That's one fumble every 180 carries.
TCU lost the ball on fumbles seven times in only 574 attempts, or once every 82 carries.
The Badgers are very good at limiting mistakes.
Level of Competition
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This is the big one.
Yes, TCU only allows 11.4 point per game.
Yes, they have great offensive stats and great special teams numbers.
But their level of competition, no matter which way you cut it, is far inferior to that of Wisconsin.
While the Horned Frogs defeated then-No. 5 Utah, the Utes remain the only team in the current Top 25 (No. 19) that TCU has faced.
And that stout defense?
The numbers TCU put up on defense against the run this season were against teams averaging 70th in rushing defense in the country.
Pretty easy to put up big numbers against inferior competition, eh TCU?
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
