Michigan Football vs Wisconsin: 3 Keys to Victory for the Wolverines

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Michigan football will face a tough test against Wisconsin, here are three keys to a Wolverines victory.

Coming in to the 2016 season, not many expected a top-10 showdown between Michigan football and Wisconsin, but that’s what we will get Saturday in the Big House.

Both the Badgers and the Wolverines are 4-0, yet each team has taken a different path to get there. Wisconsin has defeated LSU and Michigan State. Michigan football has had its best wins against Colorado and Penn State.

After beating LSU, people knew Wisconsin was good. But the Badgers really opened eyes with their 30-6 triumph over Michigan State last week.

Furthermore, Wisconsin has all the makings of a great Badgers team. It can stop the run, it has a tremendous pass rush and defense in general, and the offense has been efficient.

Wisconsin is a hard-hitting football team and while the Wolverines are also, it will definitely be a challenge and should remind everyone of an old-school Big-Ten clash.

Wisconsin may be the underdogs this week, but Michigan football has plenty to prove. The Wolverines haven’t beaten a top-10 team in eight years and are 0-2 under Jim Harbaugh.

So it’s safe to say this a measuring stick game for UM. If Michigan wants to be a contender in the Big Ten or the National Title race, these are the games it needs to win, especially with this one coming at home.

Here are three keys for Michigan football to do exactly that.

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Slow down Wisconsin pass rushers T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel

One thing Michigan football has yet to deal with is a great pass rush. That will change Saturday, as the Wolverines will have to find a way to neutralize both T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel.

In four games this season, Watt and Biegel have combined for 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss. Both have the ability to ruin a game and if Michigan can hold them in check, that will be key.

Obviously, tackles Grant Newsome and Erik Magnuson will need to play well along the offensive line. But certainly, they will get help from backs and tight ends.

The other thing Michigan can do is establish a strong running game. The ground game has been somewhat inconsistent this season. Yet, it looked great in last week’s 49-10 route of Penn State and De’Veon Smith, who rushed for more than 100 yards, looked as good as ever.

If the Wolverines can establish the run and keep their offense in manageable down-and-distance situations, it would be a big help for the offense line and could ensure that Watt and Biegel make less of an impact on the game.

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Get to quarterback Alex Horibrook

Through four games, the Michigan defense has been ferocious when it comes to pressuring opposing quarterbacks and it will need to continue that trend against Alex Hornibrook and Wisconsin.

Anytime you see a freshman quarterback playing against a defense as good as Michigan’s, you lick your chops. Yet, Hornibrook has played well this season and threw for 195 yards and a touchdown, opposed to one interception, in the win over the Spartans.

Getting after the young quarterback shouldn’t be much of a problem for Michigan football. After all, the Wolverines have 16 sacks in four games and have 10 different plays who have notched at last half a sack. Michigan also had six players with at least two sacks, including linebackers Jabrill Peppers, Ben Gideon and Mike McCray.

The Wolverines have done a great job of making big plays on defense so far this season and if they can continue to hit the quarterback, they did it 23 times against Colorado, they should be able to force Hornibrook into some mistakes.

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Get more big plays from Peppers

As the saying goes, big players, make big plays, in big games. And that’s exactly what Michigan football needs Peppers to do Saturday — make big plays.

So far in 2016, Peppers has been doing that, in all three phases of the game.

Defensively, he is Michigan’s second-leading tackler with 30 total and leads the defense with 7.5 tackles for loss. He also has two sacks for good measure.

As a returner, Peppers has also been lights out. He is averaging 40.5 yards on two kickoff returns and on 10 punt returns, he has gained 227 yards, an average 22.7. He also ran a punt back for a touchdown against Colorado.

Although his role on offense hasn’t been as big, yet, Peppers still has two carries for 24 yards.

In a game this big, it’s safe to assume Harbaugh wants his star to touch the football, so don’t be shocked if Peppers plays a little more offense this week.

The bottom line is that for Michigan football to win against Wisconsin, it will need big plays from Peppers and whether it comes on offense, defense or special teams, doesn’t matter.

If Peppers can deliver, which he usually does, he can not only help the Wolverines secure a big victory, but he can also gain even more momentum in his pursuit of the Heisman.