Week 2: Wisconsin (1-0) At Oregon St (0-0) 3:00 PM

After last weeks dissapointing close call, Ive been chomping at the bit to see this Badgers team back in action to get a better sense of wether or not the first game was a fluke, or if the Badgers may not be as good as originally thought. For the second game of the season, the Badgers head west to take on Oregon st. I mentioned in my weeks two picks that since 1990, the Big Ten is just 6-30 in road games against the Pac-10, now Pac-12. Wisconsin does have one of those six wins, and they themselves have an overall record of 11-2 againt this conference over the past twenty years. The Badgers and Beavers met last year at Camp Randall, and Wisconsin delivered a drubbing, winning 35-0. Oregon st had its first game of the season last week postponed due to hurricane Isaac, and its hard to tell whether or not that will hurt Wisconsin. On one hand, Oregon st may have to shake off the rust the Badgers already shook off last week, on the other hand Oregon st has game tape of the badgers to study, while the badgers do not have the same luxury for their opponent.

Last year Oregon St went 3-9 and stumbled to their second straight Big Ten season. Analysts have critisized the Badgers in recent years for having weak non-conference schedule, but the reality is, nonconference games are scheduled 5-7 years in advance, theres no telling how good that teams going to be when you play them. Obviously  in some cases you know your scheduling a weak school, like last year when the Badgers put Austin Peay on the schedule, but when Wisconsin scheduled Oregon St in back to back years, the beavers at the time were the best team in the Pac-10.

The Badgers have a clear advantage when it comes to the running game, as no back on the Oregon st roster has more than 100 career rushes under their belt. Danny O'Brien will look to improve off of last weeks economical effort that saw him throw for 219 yards. Minus the 53 yard touchdown pass, and O'Brien averaged 9.2 yards per completion last week. Under center for Oregon st will be Sophomore Sean Mannion. last year as a Freshman starter he three for 16 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

The key matchup in the game to me will be the Oregon st receivers vs the Wisconsin defensive backs. Last week this unit for Wisconsin had an awful fourth quarter, and thats coming off an overall bad season for the secondary last year. Oregon States strongest position meanwhile, may very well be at receiver. Markus Wheaton caught 75 passes last year, averaging 13.5 yards per catch, and second receiver James Rodgers is entering his sixth and final season as an Oregon st receiver. He has averaged 44 receptions a season in a Beaver uniform. he has 19 career touchdown recpetions and has averaged 11.8 yards per catch over the five years.

The Badgers are favored by seven points by vegas, and ESPN accuscore gives them a 64.6 percent chance of winning, by an average of nine points. Prediction: though Oregon states biggest strength can exploit the Badgers biggest weakness, the Badgers huge advantage in the running game will be more than enough to propel them to victory. Wisconsin 34-20

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