Western Illinois coach knows his team faces big challenge at Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. -- When Western Illinois pummeled Valparaiso 45-6 last week in the team's season opener, the Leathernecks drew cheers from an announced home crowd of 3,584 people.
When Western Illinois jogs into Camp Randall Stadium to play Wisconsin at 11 a.m. Saturday, the venue will be significantly more expansive. Consider that the Badgers' student section alone, which includes 14,000 seats, is larger than the entire Western Illinois student population (13,600). And Camp Randall, which seats roughly 80,000 people, is expected to be packed nearly to the gills for the team's home opener.
Leathernecks coach Bob Nielson is well aware of what his team will face Saturday. And the challenge of becoming the first FCS team ever to beat Wisconsin is one not lost on him.
"You play in those kinds of environments, there's some things that are different," Nielson told FOXSportsWisconsin.com by phone this week. "No. 1, just the crowd atmosphere and how you have to communicate in that kind of environment compared to the environments that we're typically playing in presents some unique challenges. . . . Our goal is to play our best football of the year on Saturday against Wisconsin."
This will not be Western Illinois' first foray into the world of FBS games -- the Leathernecks typically play at least one per season like many FCS teams -- but it certainly could prove to be among the most difficult. A year ago, in Nielson's first season at Western Illinois, the Leathernecks lost 29-12 at Minnesota and 38-7 at UNLV one week later.
Badgers coach Gary Andersen said Monday he had watched the Minnesota-Western Illinois game tape twice that morning and came away impressed with the Leathernecks' play. In that game, Minnesota led just 15-12 after the third quarter but scored two touchdowns to pull away late.
"It's a very respectable team," Andersen said. "Look what they did in the first game (against Valparaiso). They scored a lot of points. It's a spread team. It's a major departure from what we practice against and what we prepared against for LSU, so we've got to get ready for that, and on defense, they're a bunch of kids that play hard. They have a bunch of transfers on their team, a bunch of junior college kids on their team that are very good athletes, and they'll expect to walk in here and play well."
While Andersen had plenty of compliments for Western Illinois, Nielson slathered on the praise even more for Wisconsin, particularly after watching the Badgers' 28-24 loss to LSU in the season opener.
What did Nielson see?
"I think you saw one of the best football teams in the country," Nielson said of the Badgers. "They demonstrated they can rush the football against anybody when you rush the football as well as they did against an outstanding LSU defense. I think I was equally as impressed with their defense and the way that they really kept LSU from moving the ball with any consistency.
"That's going to be the challenge for us. Offensively, Wisconsin's going to do what they do and they're going to do it very well. We're going to have to find a way to move the ball with some consistency so at least we can hold on to it and move it in a way that keeps their offense off the field for a significant period of time.
"The other thing is you're never going to stop their rushing game. That's what they do. So what you've got to do is try and contain it. Hopefully minimize the number of big plays that they have the ability to make."
Andersen said Tanner McEvoy would be Wisconsin's starting quarterback despite a poor performance against LSU in which he completed 8 of 24 passes for 50 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Given that Joel Stave is now sidelined indefinitely with throwing issues, the Badgers' hopes likely will fall even more on McEvoy.
Despite McEvoy's sub-par game, Nielson said his ability to extend plays with his legs would create a difficult element to defend. McEvoy, who played safety last season, rushed six times for 40 yards, including a 22-yard pickup.
"I've been fortunate over the years to have some of those kinds of guys," Nielson said. "You can create a lot of offense around a quarterback that can make a play with his feet or make multiple plays with his feet, as well as throwing the football. He's a guy that as he gains experience is certainly going to continue to get better. What a unique situation that is in that level of college football to have a guy that has played multiple positions playing quarterback. You just don't see that very often."
Western Illinois will counter with quarterback Trenton Norvell, a University of Cincinnati transfer, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 320 yards with four touchdowns against Valparaiso and found nine different receivers. His top receiver, Hi-C Scott, caught four passes for 67 yards with two touchdowns.
The Leathernecks also will use tailback J.C. Baker -- a former McEvoy teammate at Arizona Western in 2012 -- who rushed for 137 yards with a touchdown in the season opener. He added a 40-yard reception from Norvell that went for a touchdown.
"He's not very big, but he's very quick," Nielson said of Baker. "There will be plays that aren't blocked very well that he'll be able to make a guy miss and get the ball to the perimeter."
Will Western Illinois' main offensive weapons be enough to keep Saturday's game close? That remains to be seen. The Leathernecks' focus will be on gaining advantages outside the hash marks, as most spread teams do. Ultimately, however, the outcome will depend on a few obvious factors.
"We're just going to have to play really well," Nielson said. "We're going to have to do a tremendous number of things right and find ways to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves during the course of the game."
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