Bowl games throw off scheduling for blogs and podcasts more than you think. This is a post that probably should have happened on Tuesday, not the day of. But typically when I’m teeing up the Badgers, it is Friday morning heading into Saturday’s game. Wisconsin’s tumultuous season closes out today with their first-ever matchup against Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Who will be the quarterback?
The biggest question Badgers fans should have this week is who will tote the rock for the offense. Will it be Graham Mertz? Or will Chase Wolf get the ball right off the bat. Wolf infused the offense in the second half and helped Wisconsin win their rivalry game against Minnesota. Paul Chryst might go back to Mertz as a way to start 2021 in the right way.

Wake Forest potent offense versus Wisconsin’s big bad defense
This is the matchup of the day. Can Wake Forest’s offense find a way to make opportunities against a really tough Badgers’ defense. Clemson is the best defense that Wake faced this season, and that was all the way back in September. Things didn’t go so well against them. Wake only scored three points in the first three quarters before getting 10 points in garbage time. They haven’t seen a defense like Wisconsin’s since Clemson.

Badgers need to limit the mental errors
The story of Wisconsin’s season this year has been mental mistakes. They’ve made too many of them. Whether it’s penalties, bad turnovers, etc, it always seems to be something for Wisconsin this season. It would be encouraging to head into 2021 if those are limited, and we can chalk it up to being a blip on the radar versus a concerning issue moving forward.

Will Jalen Berger return to Wisconsin’s lineup
Berger has been practicing with Wisconsin in the lead up to this game. It is unknown if he had COVID or not, but Berger could be back. That is huge for Wisconsin. To me, this is the next great Wisconsin running back. Berger could make a statement with today’s game as a launchpad to 2021.

Prediction
With much respect to my Wake friends, I like Wisconsin in this spot. The Deacs’ defense has been swiss cheese all year. And think that a team like Wisconsin who has talent can take advantage of that. On top of that, the lack of experience Wake has against good defenses is concerning. Badgers haven’t blown anyone out, but I like them to pull it out late in this one. Wisconsin 31 Wake Forest 20.

Charlie.