2020 Wisconsin Badgers football team

The 2020 Wisconsin Badgers football team was to represent the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Badgers were to be led by sixth-year head coach Paul Chryst and compete as members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were to play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

2020 Wisconsin Badgers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
2020 record	0–0 (0–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Paul Chryst (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Rudolph (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Leonhard (4th season)
Home stadium	Camp Randall Stadium (Capacity: 80,321)
Uniform

2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Indiana			–							–
Maryland			–							–
Michigan			–							–
Michigan State			–							–
Ohio State			–							–
Penn State			–							–
Rutgers			–							–
West Division
Illinois			–							–
Iowa			–							–
Minnesota			–							–
Nebraska			–							–
Northwestern			–							–
Purdue			–							–
Wisconsin			–							–
Championship: TBA
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten suspended the 2020 football season. As of August 14, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll.

On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference cancelled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference expressed the possibility that a season could be played in the spring of 2021.[1]

Previous season

The 2019 team started the year nineteenth in the pre-season AP Poll.[2] The team finished with two regular season losses, and were invited to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 2012 to play Oregon. The Badgers lost the game and finished the year at 10–4.

Offseason

2020 NFL Draft

See also: 2020 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Team
2	41	Jonathan Taylor	Indianapolis Colts
3	74	Zack Baun	New Orleans Saints
4	146	Tyler Biadasz	Dallas Cowboys
5	166	Quintez Cephus	Detroit Lions
Undrafted		Chris Orr	Carolina Panthers

Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Transfer to
Bradrick Shaw	#7	RB	6'1	205	Senior	Hoover, AL	California
Aron Cruickshank	#1	WR	5'9	155	Sophmore	Brooklyn, NY	Rutgers
Seth Currens	#10	ILB	6'3	230	Junior	Pickerington, OH	Miami (OH)
Christian Bell	#49	OLB	6'4	246	Senior	Hoover, AL	South Alabama
Griffin Grady	#47	OLB	6'2	205	Sophmore	Dublin, OH	-

Preseason

Spring game

The Badgers spring scrimmage and practice on April 18, 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Davey O'Brien Award	Jack Coan	QB	SR
Chuck Bednarik Award	Jack Sanborn	LB	JR
Doak Walker Award	Nakia Watson	RB	SO
John Mackey Award	Jake Ferguson	TE	JR
Butkus Award	Jack Sanborn	LB	JR
Jim Thorpe Award	Eric Burrell	S	SR
Outland Trophy	Cole Van Lanen	OL	SR

Preseason Big ten Poll

Schedule

Games cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

The Badgers 2020 schedule originally consisted of six home games, four away games, and two neutral site games. The Badgers would have hosted two of its three non-conference games at Camp Randall; the first on September 12 against Southern Illinois from the Missouri Valley, then the next week on September 19, playing Appalachian State, a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The last non-conference matchup on October 3 was a primetime game guaranteed to air on NBC against Notre Dame as part of the Fighting Irish's neutral-site Shamrock Series at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, with Notre Dame as the designated home team.

The Big Ten Conference cancelled all non-conference games on July 9 due to the COVID-19 pandemic[3]; the day before, the November 7 away game at Northwestern was moved from the neutral site Wrigley Field in Chicago back to Ryan Field in Evanston.[4] Both Notre Dame and Wisconsin plan to fulfill their contract and play the Lambeau Field game in a subsequent season.[5]

Current schedule

In Big Ten Conference play, Wisconsin will play all members of the West Division, and draws Indiana, Michigan, Rutgers, and Maryland from the East Division.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4		Indiana	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI
September 12		at Northwestern	Ryan Field Evanston, IL
September 19		at Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (Rivalry)
September 26		Minnesota	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)
October 3		at Maryland	Maryland Stadium College Park, MD
October 10		Purdue	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI
October 24		Illinois	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI
October 31		at Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI
November 14		at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Rivalry)
November 21		Rutgers	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI
Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 3) released prior to game All times are in Central time

Source:[6]

Roster

2020 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 2 Chase Wolf  So WR 3 Kendric Pryor  Sr QB 5 Graham Mertz  Fr WR 6 Danny Davis III Sr RB 8 Jalen Berger Fr RB 10 Isaac Guerendo  So WR 11 Stephan Bracey  Fr QB 12 Daniel Wright Fr WR 13 Chimere Dike Fr WR 13 Mike Gregoire  So WR 14 Jordan DiBenedetto  Fr QB 15 Danny Vanden Boom  Jr WR 16 Jack Dunn  Sr QB 17 Jack Coan Sr WR 18 Cam Phillips  Fr WR 21 Cooper Nelson  Fr WR 22 Cade Green  Jr WR 24 Haakon Anderson Fr WR 24 Adam Krumholz  Sr WR 25 Isaac Smith Fr RB 25 Nakia Watson  So FB 28 Quan Easterling  Fr RB 29 Brady Schipper  So TE 30 Coy Wanner  Jr RB 32 Julius Davis  Fr FB 34 Mason Stokke  Sr RB 36 Hunter Johnson  Jr RB 37 Garrett Groshek  Sr TE 41 Jack Eschenbach  So TE 43 Hayden Rucci  Fr FB 44 John Chenal Jr TE 46 Gabe Lloyd  Sr TE 47 Clay Cundiff  Fr TE 49 Cam Large Fr OL 50 Logan Brown  Fr OL 59 Andrew Lyons  So OL 60 Logan Bruss  Jr OL 61 Dylan Barrett Fr OL 62 Logan O'Brien  Fr OL 64 Sean Timmis Fr OL 65 Tyler Beach  Jr OL 66 Tanor Bortolini Fr OL 67 Cormac Sampson  So OL 68 Ben Barten Fr OL 69 Aaron Vopal  Jr OL 70 Josh Seltzner  Jr OL 71 Cole Van Lanen  Sr OL 73 Kerry Kodanko Fr OL 73 Alex Fenton  Jr OL 74 Michael Furtney  So OL 75 Joe Tippmann  Fr OL 76 Kayden Lyles  Jr OL 77 Blake Smithback  Jr OL 78 Trey Wedig Fr OL 79 Jack Nelson Fr WR 81 Taj Mustapha  So WR 82 Emmet Perry  Jr TE 84 Jake Ferguson  Jr WR 86 Devin Chandler Fr TE 86 Luke Benzschawel  Sr WR 89 A.J. Abbott  So	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 1 Faion Hicks  Jr S 2 Reggie Pearson  So CB 4 Donte Burton  So CB 5 Rachad Wildgoose Jr CB 6 Dean Engram  Fr OLB 7 Spencer Lytle  Fr CB 8 Deron Harrell  Jr S 9 Scott Nelson  Jr CB 11 Alexander Smith  So S 12 Titus Toler  Fr CB 16 Amaun Williams Fr CB 17 Max Lofy Fr S 18 Collin Wilder  Sr OLB 19 Nick Herbig Fr S 19 John Torchio  So CB 20 Semar Melvin  Fr CB 21 Caesar Williams  Sr ILB 22 Jacob Heyroth  So CB 24 James Williams  Fr S 25 Eric Burrell  Sr CB 26 Travian Blaylock  So CB 27 Cristian Volpentesta  Sr ILB 29 Jackson Kollath  Fr S 30 Tyler Mais  Jr S 31 Madison Cone Sr ILB 32 Marty Strey  So ILB 34 Ross Gengler Fr CB 36 Kobe Knaak  Sr OLB 37 Riley Nowakowski Fr S 38 Dante Caputo  Fr ILB 39 Tatum Grass  Fr OLB 41 Noah Burks  Sr OLB 42 Jaylan Franklin  So OLB 43 Preston Zachman Fr ILB 45 Leo Chenal So OLB 46 Hegeman Tiedt  Sr OLB 48 Cole Dakovich Fr OLB 50 Izayah Green-May  Jr DE 51 Giovanni Paez  Fr OLB 52 Kaden Johnson Fr OLB 53 Malik Reed Fr ILB 54 Jordan Turner Fr ILB 55 Maema Njongmeta  Fr DE 56 Rodas Johnson  Fr DE 57 Michael Balistreri  Jr ILB 57 Jack Sanborn Jr ILB 58 Mike Maskalunas  Sr DE 59 Aaron Witt Fr DE 90 Isaiah Mullens  So OL 90 James Thompson Jr. Fr NT 91 Bryson Williams Jr DE 92 Matt Henningsen  Jr DE 93 Garrett Rand  Sr DE 94 Boyd Dietzen  So NT 95 Keeanu Benton So DE 96 Cade McDonald Fr DE 97 Isaiahh Loudermilk  Sr DE 98 C.J. Goetz  So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 19 Collin Larsh  Jr P 26 Jack Van Dyke Fr P 28 Gavin Meyers Fr K 28 Blake Wilcox  Fr LS 51 Adam Bay Sr LS 52 Josh Bernhagen  Sr LS 63 Peter Bowden  Fr LS 64 Duncan McKinley Fr P 96 Conor Schlichting  Jr	Head coach Paul Chryst (Wisconsin) Coordinators/assistant coaches Joe Rudolph (Wisconsin) Associate Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, Offensive Line Jim Leonhard (Wisconsin) Defensive Coordinator, Defensive Backs Bobby April (Louisiana-Lafayette) Outside Linebackers Bob Bostad (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) Inside Linebackers Inoke Breckterfield (Oregon State) Defensive Line Jon Budmayr (Wisconsin) Quarterbacks Alvis Whitted (North Carolina State) Wide Receivers Chris Haering (West Virginia) Special Teams John Settle (Appalachian State) Running Backs Mickey Turner (Wisconsin) Tight Ends Ross Kolodziej (Wisconsin) Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: November 19, 2019

Rankings

Further information: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP
Coaches	12
CFP	Not released																Not released

Game summaries

Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hoosiers	0	0	0	0	0
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Indiana Hoosiers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
41–18–2	2017	W, 45–17

at Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0
Wolverines	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Michigan Wolverines football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–51–1	2019	W, 35–14

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	0	0	0	0
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
61–60–8	2019	W, 38–17

at Maryland

	1	2	3	4	Total
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0
Terrapins	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Maryland Terrapins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–0	2017	W, 38–13

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	0	0	0	0
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
42–38–7	2019	L, 23–24

vs Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Northwestern Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
60–36–5	2019	W, 24–15

at Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0
Boilermakers	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Purdue Boilermakers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
50–29–8	2019	W, 45–24

Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornhuskers	0	0	0	0	0
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–4	2019	W, 37–21

at Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Badgers	0	0	0	0	0
Hawkeyes	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2020 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
48–43–2	2019	W, 24–22

Awards and honors

References

1. "Big Ten Statement on 2020-21 Fall Season". bigten.org. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
2. "Preseason AP Poll". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
3. Myerberg, Paul. "Big Ten football reduces season schedule to only conference games, maybe setting stage for others to follow". USA TODAY. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
4. "Badgers' Wrigley Field game moved back to Northwestern's Ryan Field". Associated Press. WKOW. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
5. Vitovitch, Frank (10 July 2020). "A Notre Dame – Wisconsin at Lambeau Reschedule Not Likely Until At least 2026". UHND.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
6. "2020 Wisconsin Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.