PISCATAWAY – Rutgers football suffered its first loss of the season on the road Saturday at Nebraska, but now the Scarlet Knights will have the chance to get back on track with an important home game.

Greg Schiano’s team on Saturday will host Wisconsin at SHI Stadium (noon, Big Ten Network) with a chance to earn a fifth win over a team that has talent, but has also looked vulnerable at times through its first five games of the season.

Rutgers has never beaten the Badgers in five previous tries. Wisconsin won last season’s meeting 24-13 in Madison.

Wisconsin is 3-2 after routing Purdue 52-6 at home on Saturday – the Boilermakers have struggled badly on both sides of the ball and fired their offensive coordinator last week. The Badgers had previously lost to Alabama and USC in consecutive weeks after beating Western Michigan and South Dakota in its first two games.

It’s been somewhat of a tumultuous season so far for Wisconsin after the Badgers lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a torn ACL that he suffered in the loss to the Crimson Tide.

Then last week running back Chez Mellusi, who had rushed for 232 yards with three touchdowns through four games, announced he was stepping away from the program to focus on his health.

Here’s what Schiano said about the Badgers during a news conference inside the Hale Center on Monday:

Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano says Wisconsin is ‘good up front’

One thing that rarely changes with Wisconsin is its ability to have quality talent in the trenches.

That’s the case with this season’s offensive line.

“Up front, their offensive line I think is big. They are strong,” Schiano said. “You just watch them play against good competition. They’re good up front.”

In three games since taking over as QB1, Braedyn Lock is 46-of-83 (55.4 percent) passing for 664 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

Two of those picks came against Purdue, so Locke is susceptible to mistakes.

Still, Schiano was impressed by what he saw from Locke and the Badgers offense.

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“There's not a lot of film to go off, a few games, and a little bit last year,” Schiano said. “We'll create a plan on what they like to do offensively but we're going to have to stop the run and the pass.”

Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator is Red Bank native Phil Longo, who’s in his second season with the Badgers after four years at UNC.

Wisconsin is averaging 387.5 total yards per game (ninth in the Big Ten). It’s rushing 170.0 yards per game (seventh in the conference) and passing 217.6 yards per contest (ninth in the Big Ten).

One area Rutgers made considerable improvements in against Nebraska was its tackling – the Scarlet Knights had just three missed tackles according to Pro Football Focus – an impressive number considering the size and strength of some of the Cornhuskers’ top offensive weapons.

“That was a point of emphasis, and I think the guys really did a great job of improving that,” Schiano said. “Now we have to continue to that. Wisconsin has got some backs that they are strong. They make people miss tackles. Why? Because they are very tough and they run through tackles.”

Two receivers to keep an eye on are 5-foot-10, 190-pound Will Pauling, who has caught 21 passes for 202 yards with one touchdown, and 5-foot-10, 187-pound receiver Trech Kekahuna, who had a breakout game against Purdue with six catches for 134 yards and two TDs.

With Mellusi away from the team, Wisconsin’s lead rusher is 5-foot-9, 218-pound running back Tawee Walker, who has rushed for 241 yards on 57 carries (4.2 yards per attempt) with six touchdowns.

Wisconsin’s defense ‘well-coached’

Fickell is a defensive coach and someone Schiano knows well – they worked together on Urban Meyer’s coaching staff at Ohio State in 2016 as co-defensive coordinators (Schiano was also the associate head coach).

Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator is Mike Tressel, the nephew of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel.

The Badgers so far this season have been giving up 22.6 points per game, third-worst in the Big Ten. They’re allowing 136.8 rushing yards per game (fifth-worst in the Big Ten) and 181.2 passing yards per game (ninth-worst in the conference).

“Very sound. Big up front. They can run at linebacker, and really experienced in the secondary,” Schiano said. “They have some guys that can run. They are a run and hit group and they are big up front. So very, very sound at what they do. They know what they want to do, and I think they know how to fix things when they have a breakdown, they quickly fix it within the game.”

The player to watch on defense is safety Hunter Wohler. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound Wohler, in his fourth season, has a team-leading 29 tackles with four pass breakups.

“Really good player,” Schiano said. “Seems like he’s been playing forever.”

So while Wisconsin may be more vulnerable in spots than previous seasons, the Badgers are still a dangerous team, one Rutgers will need to be ready for.

“Definitely a great challenge,” Schiano said. “But every week in the Big Ten is. What week isn't, right?”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football: Greg Schiano previews Wisconsin Oct. 12 game