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makings of a much-improved passing game. The running game is almost al- ways good, and the player to watch this year is Jalen Berger, who finished with a team-high 301 yards despite playing in just four games as a freshman. Berger will benefit from the arrival of a new position coach: former Nittany Lion running back Gary Brown, who was hired in March. DEFENSE The Badgers got a big win in February when Jim Leonhard chose to stay on as defensive coordinator aHer the Green Bay Packers tried to convince him to return to the NFL, where he spent 10 seasons as a player. Under Leonhard, a former Wisconsin safety, the Badgers have 2elded one of the bet- ter defenses in the country. They've ranked third in the Football Bowl Subdi- vision in scoring defense (17.0 points per game) and second in total defense (294.5 yards per game) during Leon- hard's 2ve seasons on the staI. This year's defense should be solid again, with Jack Sanborn back at middle line- backer aHer 2nishing with a team-best 52 tackles last season. The defensive line has some holes to 2ll, as ends Isaiahh Loudermilk and Garrett Rand have moved on. But Wisconsin is bringing in Oregon transfer Isaac Townsend and four-star recruit T.J. Bollers, so help is on the way. SPECIAL TEAMS Punter Andy Vu- jnovich and kicker Collin Larsh are both back. Vujnovich averaged 41.6 yards and had five punts of 50 or more yards last year. Larsh went 5 of 7 on field goals, but his longest make was a 31- yarder. SCHEDULE Crowds are returning to college football in 2021, and no Big Ten team stands to bene2t more than Wis- consin. The Badgers are set to welcome Penn State, Michigan, Iowa, Northwest- ern and Nebraska to Camp Randall Stadium this sea- son. That's a pretty great home schedule, and Wis- consin would love to have a full house on hand to greet those opponents and jump around to "Jump Around" in between the third and fourth quarters. GAME OF THE YEAR It's tempting to pick the Big Ten Champi- onship Game, since the Badgers have played in six of the 10 that have been staged so far, including three of the past 2ve. But the highlight of Wisconsin's year might not even be a conference game. On Sept. 25, the Badgers will face Notre Dame at Soldier Field in Chicago. They haven't played the Fighting Irish since 1964, but what makes this game especially interesting is that Coan is likely to be Notre Dame's starting quar- terback. OUTLOOK Like Penn State, Wisconsin slogged through an uncharacteristically mediocre season in 2020. And as was the case with the Nittany Lions, it was hard to tell how many of the Badgers' prob- lems were tied to the unprecedented and TOP RETURNEES PASSING Graham Mertz 118 of 193 | 1,238 yds. | 9 TD | 5 int. RUSHING Jalen Berger 60 att. | 301 yds. | 2 TD RECEIVING Jake Ferguson 30 rec. | 305 yds. | 4 TD TACKLING Jack Sanborn 31 solo | 21 asst. | 52 total SACKS Leo Chenal 3 sacks | 18 yds. BADGER BALL Chryst has guided Wiscon- sin to bowl victo- ries in five of his six seasons as head coach. Photo by Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog

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