It took awhile, but finally the Badgers put away Utah State in the second half. After Wisconsin played an atrocious first 28 minutes and was down 10-0 to the heavy underdogs, Bucky dominated the final 32 minutes and ran away with the game, winning 59-10. It was the coming out party for true freshman running back Jonathan Taylor, who ran for a team-high 87 yards on just nine carries and a touchdown. Despite being dominated in the first 28 minutes, the Badgers still managed to outgain Utah State 478-304, and the Aggies gained 137 yards on their final two drive to make that difference closer than it actually was. Overall, the team has plenty to fix, but a good start nonetheless. The second half showed how good of a team they can be, even though it was against a team that just had three wins last season.
Since this is a happy article, I will start with the positives. First off, the second half in its entirety was as good of a half I have seen the Badgers play in awhile. Yes, I know it was Utah State, but that was a great half put together by Paul Chryst’s bunch. I should not be surprised since the team has so many veterans on it, but the way the team did not panic after falling behind early by 10 was impressive. They stuck to what Wisconsin does, and ran the football down the throats of Utah State to the tune of 234 yards on the ground.
In addition to the veterans the team has, the young players played really well. I will get to sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook next, as he had a very nice performance. In addition to the starting quarterback and Taylor (who I mentioned in the first paragraph), young wide receivers Quintez Cephus and Danny Davis had nice games as well. Cephus only had three catches, as Hornibrook spread the ball around, but he and the quarterback connected on a gorgeous back shoulder throw for a touchdown in the third quarter. Playing in his first career game, Davis played well even though he did not record a catch. First, he blocked multiple Utah State players on the left sideline on Zander Neuville’s 28-yard touchdown catch and he also drew a pair of defensive penalties that gave the Badgers a fresh set of downs. Also, freshman Isaiahh Loudermilk recorded Bucky’s only sack of the game.
Lastly, as I mentioned above, Hornibrook had a tremendous first game. Last season, the Wisconsin quarterback did not throw more than one touchdown in any game. Against Utah State, the sophomore had three, including the beautiful back shoulder throw to Cephus I mentioned above. For the game, he went 15-of-23 for 244 yards and the three scores. His receivers had several drops in the game last Friday or he would have had an even bigger day. If he keeps this up, he could have a very, very nice year. When in doubt, go to the ol’ reliable Troy Fumagalli, who had five catches for 105 yards and a score.
With every game, even in a game like this, there are plenty of things to work on. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, the receivers need to catch the ball. With many of the receivers being in their first or second year with the program, maybe some of it was first game jitters. You don’t want it to happen ever, but I wouldn’t panic unless it starts happening consistently. It was a nice game to throw to those receivers since Jazz Peavy will still be a very solid target, but only had one catch in the game.
Since it was only the first game, I would not worry about this like some fans are on social media, but that was a terrible start to the game. Being down 10 in the first quarter is not ideal, but they fought back to blow out Utah State. If it happens again against Florida Atlantic on Saturday, I will more worried, but I will chalk that up to it being the first game. It was the first time that they actually were on the field against an opponent, and Utah State was basically the first preseason game for the Badgers.
And finally, Utah State was breaking in an entirely new offensive line and Wisconsin only managed one sack. There were a few pressures, but not as much as I had hoped against that caliber of an offensive line. The linebackers played really well, tackling ball carriers for short yardage, but when the game is on the line and they need to put pressure on the opposing quarterback, they will need to be able to do so. I challenge the Badgers to have at least four sacks against Florida Atlantic on Saturday.
Next, Wisconsin will take on Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic Owls on Saturday, which come in at 0-1 after losing to Navy 42-19. The game will be on the Big Ten Network at 11 CST.
No comments:
Post a Comment