Many Wisconsin football fans were interested to see if the Badgers could finally overcome their trend of slow starts against Purdue. The Badgers came flying out of the gates, scoring a touchdown on their first two drives while holding Purdue to just six yards.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin football fans, another sluggish start reared its’ ugly head. This time, in the second half. The Badger defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed and the offensive line seemed to have more false start penalties than plays of solid protection. Thanks to some timely mistakes by Purdue and a late Braelon Allen touchdown though, the Badgers were able to top the Boilermakers, 38-17.
Wisconsin Football Pulls Away Late From Purdue
Offensive Line Still a Major Liability
Wisconsin’s offense looked better against Purdue. They were able to move the ball much more efficiently on the ground and in the air. With that being said, the offensive line made way too many mistakes for any Division I school, much less a Big Ten team. The Badgers had 10 total penalties and the vast majority of those were false starts and holds.
Simply put, this can’t continue to happen for Wisconsin. The Badgers have matched up against some bad teams and have yet to put together a complete game with solid protection and few penalties. Wisconsin football fans may now be holding their breath that their offensive line doesn’t screw up, which would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
Offensive Grade: B
Badgers Defense Struggles Against Up-Tempo Purdue
Wisconsin’s defense was ready to go on Friday night, as they took advantage of a few Purdue mistakes and miscues early on. At the end of the first half, Purdue brought out their no-huddle offense and found some success. They brought that up-tempo offense to the second half and the Badgers had no answers.
The biggest red flag was the run defense. It seemed that Purdue had at least one wide-open running lane on each carry, and the defensive line was taken completely out of the play. While they did force an interception and a turnover on downs, that was due more to bad throws from Hudson Card than their own play. As Wisconsin plays stronger teams down the line, that will need to be cleaned up.
Defensive Grade: B-
Wisconsin Football Week 5 Preview: BYE Week
Next week, Wisconsin gets a much-needed rest week. It’s been a turbulent start to the season, and the Badgers will certainly have plenty that they want to work on. They face off against Rutgers at home after the bye week, so they should have no problem getting another win right out of the gate.
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