It’ll be strength against strength when the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers (10-0, 7-0) take on the Wisconsin Badgers (3-6,1-5) on Saturday in Bloomington. IU brings the Big Ten’s second best rushing attack into face a Badger defense allowing just 111.3 yards per game on the ground.
When the Hoosiers run the ball effectively they win and win convincingly. In Curt Cignetti’s 23 games as the Hoosiers head coach IU is 20-0 when they run the ball for 100 or more yards and just 1-2 when they run for under 100 yards. This season IU is second in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game with 231.9 yards per game. IU is especially good at running the ball at home. In six games at Memorial Stadium in 2025, IU has run for 6.3 yards per carry and 16 touchdowns.
The Hoosiers are led by Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby who have combined for 1,307 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 145 carries. They run hard and punish defenses, even if they have not shown the home run speed. For the Hoosiers to win convincingly on Saturday, they will have to get the run game going.
On the other side, the Badgers have been a pretty stout defense for a team that is 3-6. They rank seventh in the Big Ten in yards allowed on the ground. Much of that success is thanks to their linebackers.
“They play a lot of people up front.” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said on Monday. “They get hats to the ball. Bend don’t break in the secondary. Keep the ball in front of you, do a good job against the run game. They created turnovers against Washington, and then they got Washington bottled up in the one end zone and it was very loud there, and they were having problems with the noise”
The Badgers are led on defense by their linebackers, however leading tackler Christian Alliegro has missed the last two games with a broken hand. He has 48 tackles and six tackles for loss this season. The injury occurred against Ohio State on October 18th, so keep an eye on the injury report Saturday.
Wisconsin’s other linebackers true freshmen Cooper Catalano and Mason Posa took home weekly honors from the Big Ten after last week’s win over Washington. Catalano made 19 tackles in the win over Washington while Posa had 11 tackles and forced a key turnover to help clinch the win.
The Hoosier offensive line has struggled with injuries and starting left guard Drew Evans will miss another game on Saturday. IU has their work cut out for them again and will need to get blockers to the second level to knock the linebackers off their spot.
The Hoosiers have the ability to throw the ball to win the game as well, but if IU wants to play at their optimal level against an opponent that both Ohio State and Alabama stuffed in a trash can, they will have to run the ball effectively.
It is ‘Senior Day’ on Saturday and while there are plenty of foundational pieces that will be celebrated. IU has their focus on the mission instead.
“I think all the guys really are focused in on today and what lies ahead. But those guys have been tremendous foundational pieces for the program back at JMU and here at Indiana. They’re great players, great people, great leaders. There’s a number of them. I doubt that any of them are thinking about the end right now because everybody understands sort of where we’re at and what’s possible.” Cignetti said.
Indiana is hunting a national title and that hunt continues with success on the ground against the Badgers.