Why Wisconsin Football Will Beat the Georgia Southern Eagles

Wisconsin football needs to bounce back. After a disappointing performance against Washington State, the Badgers welcome the Georgia Southern Eagles to Camp Randall Stadium. If UW were to fall to 1-2, head coach Luke Fickell’s tenure in Madison would be off to a devastating start. Fortunately for the new staff, Wisconsin should come out of Saturday with a win.

Wisconsin Football Has the Superior Defense

Despite the lackluster performance of Wisconsin football’s defense thus far, it is the superior unit in this matchup. Georgia Southern has played one FBS opponent this season – the UAB Blazers. Under first-year head coach Trent Dilfer, the Blazers amassed 477 yards of offense, including 385 through the air against the Eagles. In fact, UAB slightly outgained Georgia Southern. Blazers’ quarterback led his team to 35 points in his first game as a starter against an FBS opponent. Georgia Southern’s defense is currently ranked 124th in FBS per Bill Connelly’s SP+.

Although the Badgers do not appear to have “meshed the elite,” the defense has held opponents at bay. UW lost to Washington State 31-22, but the offense surrendered seven of those points. Only giving up 24 points to an offense that scored 43 with over 450 passing yards the prior week was a solid performance.

Wisconsin Badgers defensive Coordinator Mike Tressel runs through a drill during fall training camp at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023.

Wisconsin football’s defense is currently ranked 19th in SP+. However, it is important to note that SP+ after Week 2 still contains some pre-season assumptions.

Wisconsin Football Has Recruited a Significantly Higher Level of Talent than Georgia Southern

Like it or not, college football is a talent acquisition game. Of course, recruiting stars themselves do not win games. If they did, there would be no reason to play the games. It is, however, worth acknowledging that matchups with a significant difference in the level of recruiting stars tend to be one-sided.

Georgia Southern has only one recruiting class in the top 100 of the 247Sports Composite Rankings in the past five years. That class, the Eagles’ 2021 class, was ranked 91st in the country. Georgia Southern’s average class rank in the past five years was 104th nationally. During the same time period, Wisconsin football’s average class rank was 34th.

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