The Wisconsin Badger football team looks to improve to 2 and 0 on Saturday as they host the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee at Barry Alvarez Field at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
Bucky won their home and season opener last Thursday night over Miami of Ohio 17-0 as Manitowoc native and Badgers left offensive tackle Davis Heinzen ran out of the tunnel for the first time in cardinal and white.
He tells SeehaferNews.com that it was a “surreal experience.”
“I almost didn’t even know what was going on as I was so focused on the game,” he revealed. “I barely even got a chance to look around. Regardless, it was a great night.”
The Badgers put up 353 yards of total offense on the RedHawks, but Heinzen says both he and the offensive line didn’t play well.
“We, as a group, did not play up to our standard,” he admitted. “I felt like we started off drives good, but couldn’t finish them off with points. This has been a point of emphasis all week long as we still have a lot of work to do.”
They also had to deal with starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. injuring his left knee on a “non-contact” play early in the second quarter, and he didn’t return.
“I turned around and saw him (Edwards) lying on the ground, not knowing what happened,” Davis recalled. “It’s unfortunate what happened. You can’t dwell on injuries in football, and we have all the trust in Danny (O’Brien) stepping up and doing the job.”
Danny O’Brien finished the game and threw for 120 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score.
He was named the starter for week 2 on Tuesday, with Hunter Simmons backing him up.
Middle Tennessee is a Football Subdivision or Division One school that plays in Conference USA.
The Blue Raiders mustered just 153 yards of total offense in a 34-14 season-opening loss last Saturday to Austin Peay (PEA).
The Badgers allowed just 117 total yards to Miami, so you figure, advantage Wisconsin.
Heinzen says with all apologies to Lee Corso, “not so fast, my friend.”
”They have a multitude of fronts and pressure that we’ve been preparing for all week,” he noted. “We’ve got to be ready to play, and I think that it’ll be a great game.”
Next week, it’s a rematch with Alabama in Tuscaloosa, as the Crimson Tide took Bucky to the woodshed last season, 42-10 in Madison.
“We haven’t even talked about them yet,” Heinzen explained. “We’ll wrap the film on Middle Tennessee on Sunday, and then it’s Alabama time.”
Coverage of the Badgers and Blue Raiders begins at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow on 1240 AM WOMT.
