Wisconsin’s defense played pretty well overall, but especially the pass defense. Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson came in 18th in the country in passing yards per game. The Wildcats have a good number of weapons at his disposal. The patched-up Wisconsin secondary held its own against Thorson, allowing just 167 yards passing and one touchdown, while picking him off three times. In the last three games, the Badgers have allowed just one touchdown pass and have intercepted six passes. A major positive is that of the three games, two have come against some of the best in the conference, Thorson and Michigan’s Shea Patterson. It shows what the pass defense is capable of, and it will be needed when the Badgers travel to Penn State and Purdue for showdowns with Trace McSorley and David Blough. Thorson’s 56.7 percent completion percentage and his quarterback rating of 94.4 were both the second lowest of the season. His three interceptions were the most he has thrown in a game in his entire college career. Even with the rush defense struggling mightily, the pass defense has turned it up a notch, even without most of the starting defensive backfield.
There were a number of negatives, unfortunately. Firstly, the run defense allowed 182 yards to Northwestern, which was one of the worst rushing offenses in the country. The Wildcats gained 32 yards on the ground against a bad Nebraska team and had eight against Michigan State. Yes, eight! And before that, the Windy City Kitties rushed for just 28 yards against Michigan. This is not acceptable. Isaiah Bowser rushed for his second consecutive 100-yard game, gaining 117 yards on 34 carries. Northwestern actually only gained 3.7 yards per carry, but was able to run when needed.
I realize it was his first start, but do people still think Jack Coan is better than Alex Hornibrook? I mean, there was a play in the second half where he fumbled twice, giving Northwestern the lead by three touchdowns. He didn’t show accuracy beyond seven yards. Hornibrook is just the better option. Hopefully he is back for Rutgers this week.
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. In addition to Coan’s fumble, Jonathan Taylor lost two fumbles. This has been a theme for him. He has fumbled 10 times in his career. All three turnovers happened in Wisconsin territory, and two were inside its own 20. The defense played well, all things considered. It was just a bad game all around Taylor. He had run for at least 100 yards in every single game this season, but he was held to 46 yards on 11 carries. This was the second fewest number of yards he has gained in a game, only ahead of his 41-yard performance in last year’s Big Ten Championship game. I don’t know why he only carried the ball 11 times, but I would guess it was due to his fumbling issues. Taylor has been held to below 100 yards five times in his Wisconsin career, and two of them have come against Northwestern. In the two games against the Wildcats, Taylor has run for 126 yards on 30 carries (4.2 ypc). He will need to be back to himself, carrying the load on Saturday, especially if Coan has to start once again.
Wisconsin will try to pick itself up off the mat as the Badgers return home to face a Rutgers team that is the only Big Ten team yet to have a conference win, but Chris Ash and company are coming off a bye. The game is at 11 a.m. and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Wisconsin should win, but it can’t be caught looking ahead to the Nov. 10 game against Penn State.
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