(Photo: ASU Athletics)
A lot of the talk heading into today’s game between the Arizona State Sun Devils and Wisconsin Badgers has been centered on Bucky’s rushing attack. While that will no doubt be something to watch, many seem to have forgotten that Arizona State is a team with similar philosophies to Wisconsin’s.
The Sun Devils want to come out and play physical up front, establishing the run to help setup the play-action pass. While the Sun Devils didn’t run much, or as effectively, in week one as many would’ve expected, a lot of that had to do with Sacramento State’s insistency on loading the box.
The Badgers have a new defensive scheme this year, switching to a 3-4 from the traditional 4-3, and while it plays into the strengths of a few players, particularly middle linebacker Chris Borland, on a whole the defense has yet to be tested by a team with the caliber of talent that the Sun Devils possess.
“Watching them on the tape, they’re big, they’re a pretty disciplined team,” senior center Kody Koebensky said. “But they’re not unlike anything we’ve faced before. The Pac-12 is filled with 3-4 defenses, and Arizona runs a 3-3. It’s not something we haven’t seen before.
“The main thing is they’re big guys, so we just have to come off the ball and hit them hard.”
Koebensky is right, Wisconsin does have a big front seven, but it’s not particularly athletic. Through two games, the Badgers have just 5 tackles for loss, and have yet to sack the opposing quarterback. Sacks are hard to measure because of the scheme’s of the opponents Wisconsin has played, but averaging 2.5 tackles for loss per game will not cut it against Arizona State.
One thing the Badgers do excel at is tackling in space. Borland is the best of the open-field tacklers, and he also does a nice job of finding the football and making the extra hit, which always leaves open the possibility of creating turnovers. But Koebensky didn’t seem overly impressed by anyone up front on Wisconsin.
“Borland’s a pretty athletic guy, he’s gonna be a good football player in the NFL for a long time,” Koebensky said. “But it’s not like he does anything incredible that we can’t handle. As long as we use the right technique we will be alright.”
I wouldn’t expect Arizona State to change much along its offensive front tonight. The team will want to run downhill with Marion Grice and get D.J. Foster and Deantre Lewis into space. Just like when Wisconsin has the ball, the success of the Sun Devils’ offense will come down to who wins the battle in the trenches.
“All week we’ve been doing more hitting, more vertical, up the field stuff than we ever have,” Koebensky said. “We’re preparing for a war out here. We’re preparing for me against him, you know, did I win or did he win kind of thing. We aren’t going to try and finesse anything.”
You can reach Jason Galvin on Twitter @Jason_Galvin or by email jgalvi1@asu.edu
