Wisconsin Badgers: 3 Defensive Keys to Victory Against Eager Miami (OH)

Finn is a dynamic quarterback with excellent running skills and a tendency to put his shoulder down. Colzie is a massive 6-foot-4-inch target that can easily manhandle smaller defensive backs in coverage. Uke and the rest of the offensive line additions add both agility and power, rounding out the new RedHawks attack. Miami is going to deliver fast, aggressive football, and the Wisconsin Badgers will need to make stops and generate losses to slow the pace.

Dequan Finn Cannot Warm-up Against Wisconsin Badgers Defense

As mentioned, quarterback Dequan Finn is a major addition for the program and will be the heart of the RedHawks offense, which will stall without his help. Finn is a talented and seasoned college football veteran at this point after putting together an impressive career with Toledo, transferring to Baylor for a season, and now ending his career in Ohio.

The quarterback may be great, but like everyone else, there are some weaknesses the Wisconsin Badgers will need to attack. Finn might be an extremely mobile quarterback but his first instinct is to scramble in order to extend the play down field.

Finn is only going to push and run the football when he sees an open lane, and often this causes the quarterback to hold onto the football too long. In addition to this, Finn also can be slow in his reads at times and often needs extra time to fully complete his progressions.

The quarterback suffers sacks and tosses up interceptions when forced to react quickly, and if Wisconsin can generate pressure quickly off of the snap, Finn might have a long night ahead of himself.

Will the Wisconsin Badgers Defensive Line Record a Sack Against Miami?

Perhaps the most crucial defensive key for the Wisconsin Badgers will involve the defensive line putting together a solid performance against the RedHawks. The defensive line has been the biggest question all offseason after two years of production being down.

Miami has allowed 54 sacks in the past two seasons after allowing 38 during the 2022 season for 237 total yards lost. The RedHawks are improving along the offensive line piece by piece and hope the additions added this offseason will pay off.

For the Wisconsin Badgers, the people the defensive line will need to key in on are transfer guard Austin Uke and redshirt freshman Kris Manu. Should the Wisconsin Badgers successfully attack the duo, then dropping Finn in the backfield could be likely.

Uke played in two games for Stanford last season and impressed, earning a blocking grade of 76.8, but is still largely unproven. Manu is also unproven and will be the youngest player on the offensive line for the RedHawks while also being the smallest person along the line at 6-foot-2-inches and 300-pounds.