Wisconsin Badgers predictions: Game 5 vs. Kent State

By Dave Heller
Published

It's a rare nonconference game for Wisconsin in October (how rare? The first since 2007) ... and, well, it's not exactly an exciting matchup.

The Badgers are hosting Kent State from the Mid-American Conference and UW is favored, as we type this, by 35 points.

Now, last week, Wisconsin was also a prodigious favorite, albeit that was against Northwestern. We all know how that turned out (although many were not surprised by the close score due to the history of the series between these two teams).



Like last week, we'll say up front that no one is picking Kent State to win (shocker, we know). But will the Badgers cover?

Our weekly tweet out for fan responses had some interesting thoughts as well as it pertains to the bonus question.

Check out all the predictions from around the web below:

The Associated Press' Ralph D. Russo: Wisconsin 54, Kent State 10.

Pete Fiutak of Collegefootballnews.com: Wisconsin 48, Kent State 10. "The Badgers will score very, very quickly. They’ll be able to run whenever and however they want to, but this week, the goal is to get the passing game working again after sputtering and checking down too often against Michigan State. Wisconsin will put this away by halftime."

Bill Bender of The Sporting News: Wisconsin 49, Kent State 10. “The Flashes lost to Auburn by 39 earlier this season, and the Badgers have covered a 30-point spread this season. The defense has allowed 15 points or fewer and has two shutouts, too.”

David Kenyon of Bleacher Report: Wisconsin 45, Kent State 10. "The inglorious honor of ‘most difficult nonconference schedule’ goes to Kent State, which also traveled to Arizona State (30-7 loss) and Auburn (55-16 loss). Wisconsin's powerful rushing attack will add a third ugly loss to Kent State's resume, but the Golden Flashes can finally move on with 2019 after Week 6."

Josh Slagter of MLive.com: Wisconsin 48, Kent State 0. "Even though Jonathan Taylor shouldn't be in this game past halftime, there should be plenty of highlights. Of the 130 FBS teams, Kent State ranks 130th against the run. Should be perfect for a Wisconsin team that sputtered a bit in a grinder against Northwestern, and now gets a breather before hosting Michigan State next week. The Golden Flashes bring an up-tempo offense, but the Badgers will have their eyes on a third shutout of 2019."

Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register: Wisconsin 52, Kent State 6. "The fact that Auburn rushed for 467 yards against Kent State should be affirmation that the ground-and-pound Badgers can name the score. It’ll be interesting to see how much workload Wisconsin gives Heisman Trophy candidate Jonathan Taylor, who is averaging 21.0 carries a game. Bigger matchups against Michigan State (Oct. 12), Ohio State (Oct. 26) and Iowa (Nov. 9) are coming soon."

Rainer Sabin of the Detroit Free Press: Wisconsin 45, Kent State 3.



Sam McKewon of the Omaha World-Leader: Wisconsin 51, Kent State 14. “Golden Flashes quarterback Dustin Crum is an aerospace engineering major. He could build a spaceship by hand before Wisconsin ever loses to Kent State.”

Joe Vozzelli of the Champaign News-Gazette: Wisconsin 35, Kent State 10.

Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press: Wisconsin 50, Kent State 14. "Kent State won’t be able to mount a protest against the clear top team in the West division. The Hawkeyes’ close win over Michigan will show the higher tier Wisconsin is on after the Badgers throttled Jim Harbaugh and Co. weeks ago."

Steve Helwick of Hustle Belt: Wisconsin 52, Kent State 3. “This one shouldn’t require much thought. Kent State is vastly improved, but the Golden Flashes won’t get the opportunity to show their progress against the No. 8 team in the country. Jonathan Taylor will eclipse the century mark once again in his Heisman campaign, and the Badgers will leave no doubt in Camp Randall.”

The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel: Wisconsin 45, Kent State 0.

Al Arend of the Herald-Palladium: Wisconsin 52, Kent State 10.

Bill Connelly of ESPN: His S&P+ projection has it Wisconsin 48, Kent State 6.

SportsLine Projection Model: Wisconsin 53, Kent State 10.

All three Athlon Sports analysts are picking Wisconsin to win.

All six analysts at USAToday.com pick Wisconsin to win.

All seven CBSSports.com analysts think Wisconsin will win and all but one have the Badgers covering a 36 1/2-point spread.