Wisconsin Football: X-Factors For Badgers Against Minnesota
Here are three X-factors for Wisconsin football when they take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Camp Randall on Saturday.
Madison, Wis. – You can throw everything that's happened this season out the window; this one is for the Axe.
Interim head coach Jim Leonhard and the Wisconsin Badgers (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten), who are looking to reclaim Paul Bunyan's Axe, play host to the Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-4, 4-4 Big Ten) at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Here are three X-factors for the Badgers when they take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
QB Graham Mertz
The past three weeks have been anything but ideal for Wisconsin Badgers starting quarterback Graham Mertz, totaling 336 passing yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
In short, he's damn near been a liability. Yes, he's been playing hurt, and I commend him for that, but if you're going to be on the field, you have to produce, no excuses.
If UW is going to reclaim Paul Bunyan's Axe, they'll need the Kansas native to take care of the football and make a few plays in the passing game. The Gophers have the No. 3 run defense and No. 4 passing defense in the Big Ten, so they'll need QB1 to be a net positive in the regular season finale.