Wisconsin Will Need Answers for Justin Fields, Chase Young

They are Nos. 1 and 2 in your scorebook and probably also Nos. 1 and 2 in your hearts.

As for Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields (No. 1) and defensive end Chase Young (No. 2) are Nos. 1 and 2 on his mind.

Fields — with just seven career starts under his belt — leads the Big Ten in pass efficiency (190.20), which is also good for fourth in the nation. He has completed 116-of-164 passes (70.7%) for 1,492 yards with 22 touchdowns and one interception. The 22 touchdowns leads the Big Ten, as does the one interception.

Fields is also adding 41.2 yards per game rushing and is second in the Big Ten in rushing touchdowns with eight.

So far this season, Justin Fields has been everything you could want in a quarterback — unless you are coaching the team that is trying to stop him.

“I mean, it’s a really good combination of what they do schematically and spread you out, with who they do it with,” Chryst explained on Monday. “A lot of talent and then [Fields] can hurt you in a number of different ways. Very good passer and a good runner and he truly makes everyone play the whole play. Everywhere in the field you’ve got to play that play. And it’s a credit to the combination — it’s the players, the scheme, and then it’s them executing it. And they’ve been doing a really good job of that.”

Fields, however, is just one piece of one side of the ball for Chryst and his Badgers to contend with. There is also the Ohio State defense, specifically All-American defensive end Chase Young.

Young is currently tied for the national lead in sacks with 9.5, which has been accomplished while watching from the sidelines for almost every one of the Buckeyes’ fourth quarters this season.

But Young isn’t just a one-dimensional player and he doesn’t just impact the guy trying to block him.

“He’s obviously really talented and plays with great effort,” Chryst said. “He’s got good size, length, explosive, and I think like any good player has that confidence. You know, he’s done it and has that confidence to where within it there’s almost — and I want to say it’s patience because it doesn’t look like he’s playing slow footed by any means — but to where he’s playing at a high level, you know he he sets it up well.

“I think that’s where you see — I don’t want to say impatience, but you see him, he can truly attack the whole deal if you over set him. He can come underneath. He does a good job setting up his pass rush, all those things that any good player does, and he’s obviously a really good player.”

Chryst also knows that it won’t just be Fields and Young, though stopping those two would be a very good way to start.

Wisconsin has always had outstanding offensive lines and tough, physical defenses. The effort needed to contend with Justin Fields and Chase Young will be there, but it will also take execution and scheming to get the job done.

In the end, the game is coming whether or not you’re ready for it, so you may as well be ready and then ‘cut it loose.’

“You still get to play the game and I think when it comes down to it, you still have to actually have to play good football,” Chryst said. “That’s what we talked about last week, talked about it every week.

“When you play against a good team or when you are in a individual matchup against a really good player, it still comes down to what you do and how you do it, and I would think there’s a natural instinct to where you maybe feel like you’ve got to do more than normal. You’ve got to do your best and you strive for perfection — never will it be that — but I think you really have to trust yourself and trust how you play, and then trust those around you. And then you you go play and you cut it loose.”