Though Wisconsin football ultimately lost by a lopsided 41-13 against the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Badgers appeared to show some real signs of progress… at least for a half.
Wisconsin fought valiantly, but ultimately two disastrous turnovers and a complete inability to play defense in the second half doomed the Badgers to yet another defeat at the hands of a big-time opponent.
After studying the All-22 tape, BadgerNotes breaks down where the Badgers’ offense showed improvement against Notre Dame, one of the top defenses in the nation — and where it still must grow in order for Wisconsin to have a successful season.
Let’s dive into the film!
Colton Joseph immediately raises the ceiling
The biggest difference with this offense, and it was apparent immediately, was just how much having a competent quarterback is going to help the Badgers this season. Was Colton Joseph perfect? Far from it.
But when you have a gunslinger with confidence and moxie, not to mention mobility in spades and a solid arm, your offense actually has a shot. Crazy how that works.
Wisconsin ran a lot of pass plays out of bunch/stack formations against Notre Dame’s man-heavy defense. Above, it works perfectly, with Chris Brooks Jr. streaking open over the middle of the field as the Irish defensive backs get caught in traffic.
On one similar instance, however, Joseph missed a wide-open Brooks off a bunch formation:
Joseph is under siege on this play, and it would’ve taken excellent timing and anticipation to complete this pass to the receiver. Still, this is one Wisconsin would like to have back. However, it’s still encouraging that offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes managed to scheme wide-open receivers against a defense of Notre Dame’s caliber.
Joseph finished the game with 217 passing yards, which, while far from an impressive number on paper, means something for this Wisconsin offense considering Badgers quarterbacks topped 200 yards passing once (!) last season, when Danny O’Neil threw for 283 passing yards against Middle Tennessee State.
Joseph made some nice throws from the pocket, but he looked the most dangerous when he was on the move. Notre Dame did a great job containing him and limiting his ability to scramble, but when he did, his comfort level as an improviser jumped off the screen:
Joseph can tear you up with his legs once he’s outside the pocket, but he also does a great job keeping his eyes downfield. I’d like to see Wisconsin make a concerted effort to get him on the move outside the pocket, be it via sprint-outs, bootlegs, or otherwise.
Above, Joseph once again gets out of the pocket and identifies an open receiver. The Notre Dame defensive back makes a great play to break on the ball and deliver a hit that jars it loose, but the point remains: Joseph clearly has a knack for making plays outside of the pocket.
New WR1 in Madison?
Wisconsin hasn’t had a wideout with NFL potential like Malachi Coleman in quite some time. At 6-5 with fluid hips and legitimate wheels, the former Nebraska Cornhusker and Minnesota Golden Gophers oozes traits you can’t teach that are quite enticing to scouts at the next level.
Former Badgers’ X receiver Vinny Anthony had speed that could stretch a secondary vertically, but he could never do this to defensive backs:
