Three Burning Questions Ahead of Wisconsin's Final Tune-Up Game vs. Eastern Michigan

Through two games, Wisconsin football is exactly where we expected it to be.

Sitting at 1-1, having lost to Notre Dame rather handily before taking care of business against Western Illinois, the Badgers have yet to either surpass or fall short of our expectations this season. A Week 3 clash against Eastern Michigan, against whom Wisconsin is currently a 24.5-point favorite on DraftKings, may be another game that doesn't move the needle one way or another .

As the Badgers get ready to host the Eagles, Badgers On SI breaks down three burning questions surrounding the football program.

Can Wisconsin truly dominate Eastern Michigan?

Wisconsin Badgers receiver Chris Brooks Jr celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Badgers fans were livid that their team didn't completely obliterate Western Illinois in an utter wire-to-wire domination in Week 2. Considering the Leathernecks are a bad FCS team, that's fair — to a degree.

If Wisconsin was an AP Top 25 team with legitimate conference title aspirations, then we could talk about how it should've eviscerated Western Illinois 70-0. But our expectations for this Badgers team aren't nearly that high. Could Wisconsin have played better in Week 2? Yes. Should we sound the alarms because the Badgers didn't win every single rep against the Leathernecks? No.

Once again, Wisconsin is a heavy favorite against a team it should beat handily. With Eastern Michigan, however, there's a more readily-available direct comparison for Badgers fans, as the Eagles just lost 35-7 to Michigan State in Week 2.

Given that the Spartans are supposed to be one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this season, I can say with absolute certainty that anything less than a 35-7 win will send Badgers fans into conniptions.

Can Colton Joseph hit open receivers?

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

The Badgers' starting quarterback's accuracy issues against the Leathernecks are well-documented at this point. Throws were high, low, wide...Joseph was simply off. He did make a handful of very nice tosses, but overall he only completed 55% of his passes and threw for under 200 yards.

Against another smaller school, Joseph's performance is going to be magnified once again. Anything less than surgically picking apart the Eagles' secondary won't be acceptable to a certain faction of Badgers fans. But whether or not Wisconsin throws for 350-plus yards against Eastern Michigan isn't my primary concern; the Badgers' passing offense could be quiet once again. What we need to see evidence of, and what's going to translate down the line in Big Ten play, is accurate, on-schedule passes that get to the right place at the right time.

For the most part, Joseph has the latter part of that equation down. He's making the correct reads and he's making good decisions. A few (and certainly too many) passes have simply sailed on him.

Can the pass-rush get home?

Western Illinois Leathernecks quarterback Kennedy McGill throws a pass under pressure from Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Sebastian Cheeks. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

I'll give the Badgers a slight pass for not recording a sack against Western Illinois. The Leathernecks' mobile quarterback Kennedy McGill did everything in his power not to take a sack, leaving the pocket at the first hint of pressure. Wisconsin pressured him on 17 of 28 total drop-backs, or 61%. They couldn't quite wrap him up, but it's not like the Badgers couldn't penetrate into the backfield against an FCS offensive line.

Still, Wisconsin is going to need to apply more pressure than it has the first two weeks. The Badgers got off to a tremendous start, strip-sacking Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr on the Fighting Irish's first drive of the season. They haven't notched a sack since. Against an Eastern Michigan team that's given up six sacks in three games, they need to drop quarterback Noah Kim several times in order to feel comfortable with this pass-rush moving forward.

Add us as a preferred source on Google