Five upcoming Wisconsin opponents land among nation's best in defensive stop rate

Five upcoming Wisconsin football opponents land within the top 25 of defensive stop rate vs. FBS opponents, per TruMediaSports.

Those five teams are Rutgers, No. 4 Penn State, Iowa, No. 3 Oregon and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers boast the No. 7 spot in the hierarchy with a stop rate of 79.6% while the Scarlet Knights, UW’s next opponent, lands at No. 14 with a 75% stop rate.

The Nittany Lions (77.1%), Hawkeyes (72.9%) and Ducks (71.4%) are ranked at No. 10, No. 21 and No. 25, respectively. All five squads will look to inflict this type of defensive havoc on Luke Fickell’s squad for the remainder of the 2024 slate.

The Badgers thus far have scored 21 first half points against the USC Trojans, a team that holds a 73.1% stop rate. The crew also amassed an impressive 52 points against Purdue.

When blending the steady run attack with a few explosive passing plays, the Badgers can certainly muster a fair number of points when executing their game plan. If Wisconsin wishes to succeed against a batch of the nation’s best, Braedyn Locke will need to get the ball to his playmakers in space. It’s that simple.

UW will take on the unranked Scarlet Knights in New Jersey on Saturday, Oct. 14, before taking a trip to Evanston for a game against the Northwestern Wildcats on Oct. 19.