WKU Football: Talkin’ the Season Opener With Bucky’s 5th Quarter’s Jake Kocorowski

One of my favorite things to do as a blog is talk with other writers of blogs about an upcoming matchup/team. That’s exactly what we’ve got going today, as an editor at Bucky’s 5th Quarter, Jake Kocorowski, joins us to talk about the Badgers prior to kickoff between the Tops and Wisconsin.

The Towel Rack: All offseason we’ve been hearing about how good Wisconsin is going to be and have heard about all of their strengths. But lets flip that on it’s head — what are the biggest weaknesses for the Badgers?

Jake Kocorowski: Right now the biggest question mark for Wisconsin is its defensive line, in my opinion. I won’t say weakness because we have not seen them play a game yet, but the Badgers lost three key contributors on the line from last season in Chikwe Obasih, Alec James and Conor Sheehy, who combined for 156 career games.

Then, two presumed starters in the 3–4 scheme in Garrett Rand and Isaiahh Loudermilk are injured — the former out for the season while the latter is recovering from surgery with an officially defined return not been declared. So they will have two redshirt freshmen in Matt Henningsen and Kayden Lyles starting in the base look alongside senior nose tackle Olive Sagapolu (we’ll see how much they actually use the base look against WKU).

Overall, the defense is replacing seven starters and a few contributors. Reshirt sophomore Dontye Carriers-Williams, last year’s third cornerback in the nickel package and was slated to be another presumed starter this season, just announced on Wednesday night that he plans to transfer. There is also a lot of unproven and untested cornerbacks in the secondary. It should be interesting to see how the DBs react and adapt on Friday.

TTR: Alex Hornibrook saw his passing numbers, at worst, double from 2017 to 2016. What changes were made to his game and will the Tops’ defense be the first victim on his scorched-Earth path for 2018?

JK: *Laughs* Hornibrook received a lot of fan hate with those 15 interceptions last year, but he also threw 25 touchdown passes (including four against Miami in the Capital One Orange Bowl). The spring and fall camps have shown more improvement from the redshirt junior in continuing to improve on his deep ball and accuracy. The fall camp in particular, he looked solid in the red zone.

The key for the southpaw is reducing the turnovers; keep the interceptions below 10 during this season, and this offense could put up plenty of points this season.

TTR: National sites have tons of “guys to watch,” for the Badgers, but lets hear it from you guys; on offense and defense, who are a couple of guys to keep an eye on that may do the most damage?

JK: For the offense, it starts with Heisman-hopeful Jonathan Taylor and the offensive line. Against Western Kentucky’s 4–2–5 look, I’m interested in seeing how the line — with three All-Americans and a freshman All-American returning — fares amidst the hype they’ve received in the offseason. Taylor looks, physically, on a different level that many people on the field, and if he can add some receiving skillsets to his repertoire, he could be an all-around dynamic back.

For Jim Leonhard’s defense, have to start with the inside linebackers. T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly are both redshirt seniors who can simply get the job done. Edwards earned the All-America nods last season, and deservedly so, but Connelly’s a former walk-on who has stepped up when needed. Not only has Connelly filled in, but he has become one of the best players on the unit and led the team in tackles last season. I expect big things out of those two and fellow inside linebacker Chris Orr with their three-man rotation. Also watch for outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who could be the playmaker of the defense.

TTR: Outside of a loss, what is the worst case scenario for the Badgers on Friday?

JK: Worst case scenario outside of an upset is that their defense gives us a ton of points/yards to a Hilltoppers offense that is replacing its starting quarterback from a year ago. Wisconsin’s defense will have to adapt to WKU’s up-tempo looks and different schemes from what they’ve faced during fall camp against head coach Paul Chryst’s offense.

Can three new starters in the secondary — cornerbacks Faion Hicks and Caesar Williams, along with safety Scott Nelson — learn quickly and stop a passing attack? I think they’ll pick it up quickly, but the defense this season will be the unit to watch as they attempt to replace all those contributors from a year ago.

If you want to go truly worst case scenario, Jonathan Taylor suffers a season-ending injury and Hornibrook throws three interceptions. They win but not great, and fans get on the message boards to #BeMadOnline.

TTR: Outside of a win, what is the best case scenario for WKU on Friday?

JK: Honestly, if Western Kentucky can put some points on the board and keep it close until halftime like Utah State did last season during Wisconsin’s season opener, I’d view that as a big win. Again, that defense is relatively untested despite returning key starters like Edwards, Connelly, Sagapolu and strong safety D’Cota Dixon. We’ll see how the younger or more inexperienced players react.

TTR: Prediction?

JK: I’ll go with a score I gave earlier this week, a 51–13 win. Wisconsin’s offense is primed for some big things this season in the running game, despite the suspensions of wide receivers Quintez Cephus and Danny Davis. I think that line opens up some big holes for Taylor and the deep set of running backs. I feel Western Kentucky may score first while Wisconsin’s defense adjusts, but then they lock down for a season-opening victory.

Thanks again to Jake for his insight and his willingness to answer our questions. For more Wisconsin coverage, head over to Bucky’s 5th Quarter to see what they’re all about.