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106 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 f more than 120 yards per game. He'll be needed to replicate those numbers, maybe even exceed them, for an offense that lacks proven weap- ons in its receiving corps and will likely take the field again this season under the direction of experienced, but limited, quarterback Joel Stave, though that position remained un- settled coming out of spring as Stave deals with a shoulder injury. Wisconsin's traditionally ground-dominant offense shouldn't deviate from that identity this season. Its defense, though, may look dif- ferent than some of the units in past years that have relied largely on phys- icality and sheer size. "Last year, Andersen and (coordi- nator Dave Aranda) played their 3-4 with 4-3 personnel and concepts," Veldhuis said. "Now, much of their front seven is gone and they're mov- ing toward smaller, more athletic players across the board ... to make the defense more athletic as a whole and make them better able to match up against spread offenses and be multiple in what they're doing." It's a bit of a gamble, Veldhuis said, as the Badgers — historically so stout at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball — must not allow their run defense to become a vulnerability. Wisconsin's been the Big Ten's foremost model of consistency for the past decade-plus and you can expect that to continue in 2014. There are many questions, wheth- er they be quarterback, the offense's unproven receivers now that Jared Abbrederis is gone or the defense's renovation. But in spite of all of it, Wisconsin's considered a front-runner in the Big Ten West, generally thought to be a co-favorites along with Nebraska and Iowa. The conference schedule, free of Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, has something to do with it. The Badgers will be favored, may- be by a significant margin, in each of their league games before hosting Nebraska Nov. 15, then traveling to Iowa a week later. In non-conference, a neutral-site opener against LSU in Houston should help Wisconsin prepare for a league slate that sets it up for suc- cess. "Considering how easy the sched- ule looks on paper, I'd say they need to at least match last year's win total of nine," Veldhuis said. "Ten is very doable. … There's no reason they shouldn't be in contention for a divi- sion title at least." — Brian Neubert (9-4 overall, 6-2 Big Ten, 2nd Leaders) Date Opponent . . . . . . . . . Results 8/31 MASSACHUSETTS . . . . W, 45-0 9/7 TENNESSEE TECH . . . . W, 48-9 9/14 at Arizona State . . . . . L, 30-32 9/21 PURDUE . . . . . . . . . . . W, 41-10 9/28 at Ohio State . . . . . . . L, 24-31 10/12 NORTHWESERN. . . . . . W, 35-6 10/19 at Illinois . . . . . . . . . . W, 56-32 11/2 at Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . W, 28-9 11/9 BYU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W, 27-17 11/16 INDIANA . . . . . . . . . . . . W, 51-3 11/23 at Minnesota . . . . . . . . W, 20-7 11/30 PENN STATE. . . . . . . . L, 24-31 1/1 vs. South Carolina* . . L, 24-34 * Capital One Bowl Who's in Charge? COACH GARY ANDERSEN Record at Wisconsin: 9-4 (one season) Record vs. Purdue: 1-0 Date Opponent 8/30 vs. LSU* 9/6 W. ILLINOIS 9/20 BOWLING GREEN 9/27 SOUTH FLORIDA 10/4 at Northwestern 10/11 ILLINOIS 10/25 MARYLAND 11/1 at Rutgers 11/8 at Purdue 11/15 NEBRASKA 11/22 at Iowa 11/29 MINNESOTA * Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX 2013 RESULTS 2014 SCHEDULE EARLY LINE: WISCONSIN -15 OF NOTE: Badger running back Mel- vin Gordon, a fourth-year junior, averaged 8.08 yards per carry in his first three seasons. Former Army running back Glen Davis holds the NCAA career record for yards per car- ry at 8.26 (minimum 300 attempts). Ross-Ade Drought "You never want to write off Wisconsin, arguably the best team in the Big Ten the last eight years. I think though, defensively, the front seven was ripped apart. Every defense has got to stop Melvin Gordon. Can Wisconsin make them pay for it? That's going to be the big question." — Tom Dienhart, Big Ten Network TOM'S TAKE Purdue hasn't defeated the Badgers in Ross-Ade Stadium since 1997, its longest drought against a Big Ten team it has played at least twice. Length of home win drought: Wisconsin: 16 years Penn State: 10 years Michigan State: 8 years Northwestern: 6 years Iowa: 6 years