Did the Badgers experience real growth against Purdue?
Wisconsin Badgers coach Luke Fickell addressed the difference between team growth compared to playing a struggling team
Provided by Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin football team will look to make it two straight wins when it plays Rutgers on Saturday at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.
The Badgers are 3-2 and coming off a dominant victory over Purdue, while the Scarlet Knights (4-1) return home following their first loss of the season.
Can Braedyn Locke, Trech Kekahuna and Tawee Walker duplicate their performances from last week against a solid Rutgers defense? And can the Badgers defense, which has struggled against the run this season, find a way to slow down Kyle Monangai and a Rutgers rushing attack that is one of the best in the Big Ten?
I’ll have live coverage during the game. Follow below for scoring updates, highlights and analysis.
Wisconsin is 5-0 all-time against Rutgers. All of the games have occurred since 2014 after Rutgers joined the Big Ten.
TV channel: Big Ten Network
Live stream: Fox Sports app, Fubo (free trial for new subscribers)
Jeff Levering, a member of the Brewers TV and radio broadcast team, is in the booth for play-by-play, Jake Butt is the analyst and Brooke Fletcher is the on-field reporter.
Rutgers is located in Piscataway, New Jersey, and is a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. Piscataway has a population around 61,000.
Our Badgers football reporters are split on this matchup.
Mark Stewart: Wisconsin 24, Rutgers 20
JR Radcliffe: Rutgers 28, Wisconsin 20
Here’s more on the reasoning behind their picks. ESPN’s predictor model, meanwhile, only gives Wisconsin a 39.4% of winning.
Spread: Wisconsin (+1.5)
Money line: Rutgers -125, Wisconsin +105
Total points: 44
Here are stats for both teams after five games:
Wisconsin
Rutgers
Braedyn Locke will start his third game at quarterback after taking over for the injured Tyler Van Dyke, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL last month against Alabama. And after Trech Kekahuna’s breakout performance last week against Purdue, will he become a favorite target of Locke?
Here’s Wisconsin’s full two-deep at every position.
The offense revolves around senior running back Kyle Monangai, whose 133.4 yards per game are second in the Big Ten and fourth nationally. Monangai already has a 200-yard rushing game and two 100-plus yard games, including against Washington two weeks ago. He averages 5.8 yards per carry.
Rutgers’ quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis is in his first year with the Scarlet Knights after transferring from Minnesota. He started 12 games for the Golden Gophers in 2023. He’s completing 55.6% of his passes and has eight touchdowns and three interceptions through five games. Here’s Rutgers’ full roster.
* Denotes Big Ten game
* Denotes Big Ten game
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