The Wisconsin Badgers are back to bring their brand of football excellence to the field during every home game at Camp Randall Stadium. Fans of NCAA action should cheer that the team looks to be the strongest that it has been in years, with many of the best players returning for another season alongside fresh recruits ready to prove themselves. Their defense has been fine-tuned to be an impenetrable wall that opposing offenses will crumble against, while the offense is ready to put up the points and add valuable wins to the team’s already impressive record. Even casual Badgers fans can already feel the excitement in the air as the game day comes closer with every passing moment.
Once the team arrives at their home stadium, you will be shocked by the roar of the crowd as students, alumni, and staff cheer on the boys in Red and White. The Badgers have always been known to fight hard under their roof, with a drive to succeed that exceeds what most teams can ever hope to manage. You could see great players like Scott Nelson, Jake Ferguson, and Jonathan Taylor who will help push the team for this year’s postseason bid. You could even see the plays and plans arranged by Paul Chryst and his coaching staff that may be the key to continue their flawless 2019 season going into week 6. If you’re a true Badgers fan, then you can’t afford to miss out on the rest of the season’s home game schedule.
But don’t delay in ordering your game tickets to see the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Because fans are rushing to order their tickets and supplies are running out fast. The best football action is viewed live rather than at home and once the tickets run out, they are gone for good.
The Players to Watch on the Badgers 2020 Roster
While all eyes are already on the Badgers with their current 5-0 record in the regular season, some players stand out as some of the best and most surprising in the league to date. If you want to know who to keep an eye on during your visit, these are our picks.
Starting with Jake Ferguson, a redshirt sophomore with some real game-changing ability. He’s a tall tight end player who impressed the league with 36 receptions for 456 yards and four touchdowns in 2018. Because he’s big, fast, and reliable, we expect that he’s going to surpass those numbers this season as quarterbacks and coaches rely on his abilities more. Opposing defenses will have to double up on guarding Ferguson if they hope to keep him from running away with the ball game after game.
Scott Nelson is another redshirt player who will stand out with the Badgers. He started eight games racking up a total of 41 tackles, with three for a loss and one key interception. If Nelson is utilized by Badgers coaching, then he’ll likely be a terror for opposing offenses that have to deal with him. Simply put, the entire Wisconsin defense can be supported on this player’s shoulders.
Another player to watch out for is none other than Jonathan Taylor. This running back recorded some incredible numbers in two seasons, rushing for over 4,000 yards with 39 touchdowns in his time with the program. He was part of 299 rushing attempts in 2017 and 307 in 2018. As the team learns that Taylor is their silver bullet, you can expect him to get the ball more often and crush the scrimmage as any skilled running back should.
We may have only named three players on our “Players to Watch List” but the Badgers have an incredible line up of very strong players for both offense and defensive lines. So you can expect that by the seasons end that the team will have some award-nominated and winning players to their name.
Badgers Traditions You Might Get to Experience
Every one of the best teams and programs in the NCAA has traditions that mark it as special compared to others. The Wisconsin Badgers are no different. These are some of the traditions you can experience when you come to the field.
The Fifth Quarter was an event that came during a slump in the late 1960s when the Badgers lost 24 straight games. The Wisconsin Marching Band worked with Michael Leckrone and Elroy Hirsch to create a fan event called “The Fifth Quarter” that takes place at the end of games. During “The Fifth Quarter” the band plays a variety of songs for twenty minutes after the game that fans can sit and enjoy while cheerleaders and audience members participate. After the Fifth Quarter ends, the band exits the field and plays more songs on their way to the Mosse Humanities Building where the procession is then dispersed.
You might also get to experience the “Jump Around” tradition where fans dance to the House of Pain song by the same name. This takes place during the third and fourth quarters and started during the ‘93 football season with the men’s swim team smuggling in a megaphone and playing the song to rile up sections of the crowd. The tradition became official in 1998 when the Badgers had a homecoming game against the Purdue Boilermakers. When the crowd was disappointed that the Badgers hadn’t put up any points, the song was played in the third quarter hyping up the crowd. The tradition was almost lost in 2003 when new skyboxes were added to the stadium and officials decided that they didn’t want to play the song anymore, but student and alumni protests led to the tradition being reinstated shortly after.
The Badgers are undeniably some of the most passionate fans in football and you will get to experience that passion first hand if you order a ticket to an upcoming home game at Camp Randall Stadium.