Alabama Football: Breaking down the Wisconsin Defense

Alabama Football faces its first road test of the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon in Madison against the Wiscosin Badgers. On Wednesday, we previewed the Wisconsin offense. Today, we take a look at a Badgers defense that has the talent, playmakers, and scheme to give Alabama’s offense trouble.

The unit is coordinated by Mike Tressel, the nephew of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel. Tressel spent 12-years at Michigan State before becoming the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2021 and then following Fickell to Madison last year.

Tressel runs a 3-3-5 defensive scheme and likes to send disguised blitzes and run exotic coverages that have historically caused issues for Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, who frequently bails from the pocket early if he feels pressure or drops back so deep that it makes the tackles jobs extrememly difficult.

I’m not much of an X’s and O’s guy, particularly when it comes to defenses, so if you want a deep dive on the Badgers’ defensive scheme, you can read an excellent one here. Tressel mixes and matches his coverages, with about a 50-50 split between man and zone coverage.

I would expect more zone coverage on Saturday afternoon as I’m not sure if the Badgers have the corners to hold up on an island for long against the Tide’s receivers, particularly if they struggle to get pressure without bringing blitzes.

The Badgers ranked 56th in yards-per-play defense a year ago, and they currently sit at 56th through two games in 2024 despite the inferior competition it has faced.

The strength of Wisconsin’s defense is in the secondary. Safety Hunter Wohler is one of the very best at his position in the entire country. He led Wisconsin with 120 tackles last year and was a 1st team All Big Ten performer.

At one corner, redshirt junior Ricardo Hallman was a 3rd team All American a year ago and picked off 7-passes. He’s a guy who has to be accounted for. He’s the best corner Alabama has seen so far this season, and Wohler the best safety, and it will be a good challenge for an unproven group of Tide receivers led by 17-year-old phenom Ryan Williams.

Both Wohler and Hallman are projected mid-round NFL draft picks in next April’s draft.

At linebacker, Arkansas transfer Jaheim Thomas and Jake Chaney form a good tandem inside and both are projected as 7th round/UDFA’s in the draft. Unfortunately for Wisconsin, much like Alabama’s Justin Jefferson, Chaney was the victim of a questionable targeting foul in the second of last week’s win over South Dakota and will sit the first 30-minutes on Saturday.

Wisconsin will start USC transfer Tackett Curtis for the first half in place of Chaney. Curtis started 8 games as a freshman with the Trojans in 2023.

Where Alabama has the biggest advantage should be up front. The Badgers’ defensive line is a real concern for Wisconsin fans. Depth and experiene on the defensive line was a concern before a season-ending injury in the preseason to James Thomas, who had 18 career starts in two seasons in Madison.

Now, Wisconsin starts a career reserve in senior Ben Barten and redshirt sophomore Curt Neal, who had made one career start prior to this season. Alabama likely getting Kadyn Proctor back for his 2024 debut would go a long way in the Crimson Tide being able to control the game and not put Milroe in unfavorable down and distances where he might feel he needs to force a throw to make something happen for a stagnant offense.

Proctor’s return gives Alabama a distinct advantage inside with Tyler Booker moving back to left guard and joining center Parker Brailsford and right guard Jaedan Roberts. South Dakota found success running up the middle against the Badgers, rushing for 147 yards on a 5.8 yards-per-carry clip if you exclude the yardage lost on three sacks.

Alabama’s gameplan should be real simple: run the football. Utilize the two-headed monster at RB in Jam Miller and Justice Haynes, mixed with more than a few designed runs for Milroe and wear down a Wisconsin front-seven that doesn’t have a ton of depth, particularly in the first half while Chaney sits.

You can bet that Wisconsin is going to bring pressure as the book on Milroe has been him panicking a bit in the pocket when he feels pressured. I’d look for more quick, decisive reads on passes with Milroe getting the ball out to playmakers in space. Wisconsin doesn’t have the team speed to stick with the Tide receivers for four quarters.

Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan just has to avoid getting impatient and trying too hard for the homerun shots. The deep balls will come as Wisconsin struggles to stop the run and the quick passing attack. It will force tighter man-coverage and safeties creeping into the box, which should allow for a knockout punch or two down the field in the second half that allows the Crimson Tide to pull away for a comfortable victory.

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