Fresh off their first Big Ten victory, the Wisconsin Badgers travel to Bloomington, Indiana, on Saturday to play the second-ranked Indiana Hoosiers.
Last week’s victory over Washington was Wisconsin’s first over a ranked opponent since 2021.
Manitowoc native and starting center Davis Heinzen says, it has been a long time coming.
“It means a lot. We work hard and prepare diligently every week to win a football game,” he told SeehaferNews.com. “When the clock read zero, all that hard work finally paid off.”
The Badgers put up only 13 points in the victory over the Huskies and continue struggling to put points on the board.
In fact, Wisconsin is 134th out of 136 FBS teams in scoring offense (just 7.7 points per game).
They’ve also been beset by a bevy of injuries, including losing quarterback Danny O’Brien last week on a non-contact play.
Enter true freshman Carter Smith who led Bucky to their only touchdown while running a lot of RPO (run-pass-option) offense.
Despite that, Heinzen noted that they continue improving, in large part by practicing against a good defense every day.
“They’ve really been amazing,” Heinzen said. “Going against them in practice every day makes us (the offense) much better. To hold an offense like Washington to 10 points is amazing. They’ve been playing lights out all season.”
They’ll have to be on top of their game Saturday against an Indiana offense led by Heisman Trophy candidate Fernando Mendoza.
The redshirt sophomore quarterback has thrown for over 2,300 yards, 26 touchdowns, and only five interceptions, while completing over 71 percent of his passes.
Heinzen says that’s impressive, but feels the Hoosiers’ defense is just as good.
“They are good with their schemes, and they try and speed you up to take you out of your game,” he explained. “We can’t get caught up in that. We need to stick to and execute our game plan which will keep Mendoza (Fernando) and that Hoosier offense on the sidelines.”
The Badgers are 3-6 with three games left to play.
Call it crazy, but it’s true: if they win out, Wisconsin would be bowl eligible at 6-6.
The Shipbuilders alum says it’s the mentality they play with every single week.
“It may sound boring, but we need to just take it one game at a time,” he said. “Of course, going to a bowl game would be great and it’s always in the back of your mind. We will strive for that always, but we’re trying to build on something which right now is simply trying to win another football game.”
Coverage of Saturday’s game on 1240 WOMT begins at 9 A.M.
