Wisconsin Badgers news, 8/29: Andy Ludwig has plan for quarterbacks; UW travels with more players

Wisconsin

Happy Friday! We're one day until gameday.

Wisconsin has a plan for how it'll use its two quarterbacks, and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig says he won't adjust on the fly:

"You want to have a plan and you want to make sure the players are familiar with the plan," Ludwig said, when asked about using two quarterbacks in a game.

"Everything we do is pretty calculated. So if that is the direction we go, it is going to be pretty mapped out and defined for the players - very little off the cuff or by feel."

Notes from Gary Andersen's press availability yesterday:

• The Badgers traveled with 85 players, 15 more than usual, and left a day early at Andersen's request to Barry Alvarez. "There are a lot of young men that are going to go on this trip this week that haven't ever traveled at a Wisconsin football game, other than a bowl game," Andersen said. "We're taking 85 kids because (Alvarez) allowed us to do that and go down a day early. I think it will be tremendous for this young football team."
• There are 14 freshmen on the travel roster.
• Andersen says the Badgers are healthy: "We're in a good spot. There's going to be no surprises on who's going to be out there on the field from a health standpoint."

LSU's defensive ends could be among the best Wisconsin faces all year.

Madison.com explains how Wisconsin says it'll be ready for LSU, despite all the holes the Badgers have to fill.

As you'd expect, there's a sizable difference between the Badgers and Tigers in recruiting. Wisconsin's landed just two five-star recruits since 2002 (per Rivals); LSU's brought in 24.

Fox Sports Wisconsin's Dave Heller rounds up predictions for the game. Not surprisingly, LSU gets most of the love.

LSU

NOLA.com runs down the positional advantages of the game. The offense is mostly balanced, while LSU gets most of the advantages on defense, as well as a 31-17 predicted win.

The SEC is young this season: 87 true freshmen are listed on the depth charts of the conference's 14 teams, including 10 starters.

ICYMI

Basketball talk: Wisconsin made the top fives for two of its biggest targets, Diamond Stone and Esa Ahmad.

We made our season predictions! Come add yours in the comments.

A cool graph from The Wall Street Journal tells us what we already know: Wisconsin is pretty good both on and off the field.

Beer! Drew recommends some good Louisiana brews and how to pair them with your Wisconsin favorites.