As Nearly 40-Point Favorites, What Can We Actually Learn About Wisconsin vs. Western Illinois?

Buy games in college football tend to be a win-win all around. If all goes according to plan, the bigger program gets a tune-up game, notching a blowout win to the delight of its home crowd ahead of more challenging conference play.

The smaller program, meanwhile, gets a nice paycheck, national exposure and a chance at a program-defining win.

But what can we actually take away from these games? Oftentimes, it's difficult to garner real takeaways when the talent disparity is so significant. FBS programs that wind up having awful seasons routinely blow out overmatched FCS teams year after year.

Below, Badgers On SI breaks down what Wisconsin can find out about itself against the Leathernecks:

How good can the Badgers' offensive line be?

Wisconsin offensive lineman Colin Cubberly. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

In Week 1, Wisconsin had to face one of the top defensive fronts in the sport while down a starter on its offensive line. Despite only rushing for 67 total yards, the Badgers created a handful of creases on the ground and didn't surrender a sack until the final drive of the game.

There was plenty of room for improvement up front against the Irish, of course, but down a starting guard and with two new starters at tackle, Wisconsin's line played pretty well all things considered.

The Badgers are still expected to be without Mandell in Week 2, but now they get to face a much softer defensive front. Illinois State ran for 239 yards against the Leathernecks last week; Wisconsin's offensive front should be licking its chops.

Western Illinois has just two players who hit the 300-pound threshold on its defensive line, and just barely: Keshawn Harrington-McKinney is 300 pounds, while Steven Oberst is 305.

In Week 1, we saw what Wisconsin's offensive line could look like against one of the best front sevens in the nation while down a starting guard. In Week 2, we'll get a chance to see what they look like against an extremely overmatched defensive front. In other words, Notre Dame could be the floor; what does the ceiling look like?

Does Colton Joseph continue to make good decisions?

Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Colton Joseph. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Regardless of the talent disparity between two teams, a quarterback's decision-making can always be evaluated. Colton Joseph might be able to get away with more against the Leathernecks, but where he goes with the football and when will still be key to watch.

Wisconsin's offense only scored 13 points against Notre Dame, but Joseph put together the best quarterback performance the Badgers have seen since Week 2 of last season, when Danny O'Neil tossed for 283 yards against Middle Tennessee State. Joseph competed 63 percent of his passes, tossed for 217 yards and his touchdown to receiver Malachi Coleman was a thing of beauty.

Yes, his pick-six was a catastrophic play. While it did appear to be something of a rushed/panicked throw, he definitely wasn't on the same page as his intended receiver Chris Brooks Jr. But that was one of the only times he put the ball in harms' way. He had a couple of poor throws accuracy-wise, but none of them were poor decisions.

One of the big knocks on Joseph coming out of Old Dominion was that he was turnover-prone. The Badgers would love nothing more than to have Joseph make sound decisions and take care of the football all night against Western Illinois.

Where does Wisconsin trust its depth the most?

Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Again, if all goes according to plan, Wisconsin should have no trouble blowing the Leathernecks out of the water. If that's indeed what goes down Saturday night at Camp Randall Stadium, it's feasible that the Badgers would begin to sub in backups and reserves as they pull further and further away on the scoreboard.

We may not be able to glean too much about the players themselves against an extremely overmatched opponent, but we should still get a glimpse into the coaches' thought-process about where they believe they have the most depth based on who they deploy in the event of a blowout. Even early in the game, if Wisconsin goes deeper into various position rooms with the score still close, that could be quite telling about at which positions Badgers coaches feel the most comfortable.

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