Wisconsin football report card from 21-7 loss to No. 6 Oregon
Handing out grades for the Wisconsin Badgers offense, defense, and special teams from the 21-7 loss to Oregon in Week 9.
For the first time in weeks, the Wisconsin football team didn’t fold. In a cold, rain-filled Autzen Stadium, the Badgers traded punches with Dan Lanning and the No. 6 Oregon Ducks, and kept the game inside one score deep into the second half before fading late in a 21–7 loss.
The defense set the tone early, answering a surprise onside kick with a fourth-down stop and never letting Oregon’s high-powered offense find much rhythm. True freshmen Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano looked the part of future stars at linebacker, while Ben Barten anchored a front that battled for four quarters. Offensively, the bar was on the floor, but they cleared it. After 15 quarters without scoring a touchdown, Wisconsin finally found the end zone, and redshirt freshman Gideon Ituka ran with a sense of toughness and purpose behind a depleted offensive line.
That said, context matters here: Wisconsin entered as a 31.5-point underdog, without its starting quarterback, center, right guard, top two running backs, and multiple defensive starters. The Badgers didn’t beat themselves, didn’t turn it over in bunches, and made Oregon earn it. But the same reality remains: this is an offense that doesn’t threaten anyone whatsoever and continues to waste quality defensive performances.
“This is a tough one to swallow,” Fickell said. “But tougher because I thought we put ourselves in a position where we had an opportunity, and I thought defensively, our guys came to play. I thought from the very get-go of the surprise onside that they recovered, that those guys went out there and didn’t bat an eye and stopped them. They battled their butts off. Battled the whole time, and there are some things to be proud of.
“But there are also some things to be disappointed in,” he continued. “We can’t play undisciplined. We can’t have as many penalties as we have. We can’t give them more opportunities on third down. We can’t make really poor decisions. We try to pride ourselves on being disciplined, and that was one of those things tonight where we’re not going to win a football game, especially against a team like this on the road if we can’t play with more discipline. We can’t eliminate some of those big penalties.”
Now sitting at 2–6 overall and 0–5 in Big Ten play, the Badgers must win out to avoid missing a bowl in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1991–92. The bye arrives at the right time, and there are at least some positives to lean on as they work to rebuild this football program.
With that as the backdrop, let’s hand out some grades.
Offense: D
Wisconsin’s offense finally scored a touchdown. After going 15 quarters without finding the end zone, Jeff Grimes and the Badgers managed to put points on the board, snapping one of the ugliest droughts in program history. For context, that score marked their first touchdown in 3 hours, 45 minutes, and 13 seconds of actual game time — a staggering stretch that perfectly captures just how brutal this offensive slump had been.
Beyond that, though, it was more of the same from a unit still searching for rhythm, identity, and basic functionality.
The numbers tell a familiar story: 196 total yards, 110 on the ground and 86 through the air. The Badgers have yet to surpass 300 yards of total offense in a single Big Ten game this season, with the most (296) coming against Maryland in Week 4. Hunter Simmons completed just 7-of-21 passes for 86 yards, one touchdown, and one interception on a 4.1 yards-per-attempt clip that underlines the continued lack of explosiveness through the air.
At this point, it’s fair to wonder what exactly this staff believes Simmons gives the offense that justifies keeping him on the field.
“Yeah, there was,” Fickell said regarding whether he considered making a change at quarterback. “I do think the conditions of things make it difficult to throw another guy in there that hasn’t taken the snaps, hasn’t been in that situation. I mean, there were a lot of other factors. But it might be one of those ones where you kind of go back and kick yourself to say, “Damn, I think I think there’s some opportunities there for Danny.”
Redshirt freshman running back Gideon Ituka was one of the few bright spots. With Dilin Jones and Darrion Dupree ruled out before the game, and Cade Yacamelli exiting with an injury, Ituka carried the load with 21 rushes for 85 yards, including a long of 18. He ran decisively, with patience and vision, showing physicality between the tackles that’s been missing from this offense.
According to PFF, 48 of Ituka’s yards came after contact, and he forced two missed tackles, showing the power and balance in his running style. Yes, he put the ball on the ground once, but overall, Ituka’s effort was something this staff can try to build around.
“He had put the ball on the ground in fall camp and maybe didn’t get as many opportunities, but I’ll tell you what, he showed us some things tonight, he could be a back of the future,” Fickell said postgame. “I know, again, it’s one game, one opportunity, but I thought he did a really good job. The way he played, the way he ran the football, I think, gives us not just hope, but the ability to have a more of a physical running game.”
Through the air, true freshman Eugene Hilton Jr. hauled in a 42-yard deep ball that should have been ruled his first career touchdown before replay marked him down at the one-yard line. The pass itself wasn’t great, but Hilton simply went up and made a play.
One snap later, tight end Lance Mason hauled in a touchdown from two yards out, ending the 15-quarter scoring drought. Fullback Jackson Acker also provided one of the team’s few offensive highlights, with a 10-yard fullback dive up the middle.
According to Game on Paper, Wisconsin posted a -0.10 EPA per play (28th percentile), -0.26 EPA per dropback (19th percentile), and an encouraging 0.09 EPA per rush (65th percentile), which is modest progress for a team that’s lived in the basement of nearly every offensive metric this season.
The offensive line, playing without starting center Jake Renfro and right guard Kerry Kodanko, held up much better than expected. Wisconsin allowed just two total pressures all game, with only one credited to an offensive lineman (Joe Brunner). That’s notable, considering Oregon’s speed and talent up front. Still, the bar for the Badgers is impossibly low.
This offense lacks tempo, spacing, and explosiveness, and the quarterback play continues to handcuff the system. But thanks to Ituka and the offensive line, there was a pulse. That’s not enough to move the needle, but it’s enough to keep this grade from being an outright failure.
“Everything matters,” Fickell said. “That’s what I say to those guys in there. Everything matters. And so, scoring points, yeah, it matters. You’re not going to win football games if you score seven points. But you’ve got to score seven before you can score 10, and you’ve got to score 10 before you can score 14. And at some point, we have to find ways to string these things together, get better, and score more points. We weren’t able to do it well enough tonight in some tough conditions against a really good football team and a really good defense. But we’ve got to expect more.”
If Wisconsin had even a competent offense or replacement-level quarterback play, a passing game that could threaten defenses downfield, it would’ve been fascinating to see how this one played out. The defense did its job all night, and a functional offense might’ve actually made things interesting. Still, given the modest growth on the ground and a hint of progress up front, this week’s grade lands at a D.
Defense: B+
Given everything stacked against them, Wisconsin’s defense had every excuse to roll over. They’d lost five straight, were decimated by injuries, had to fly across the country to face one of the nation’s best offenses, and the Badgers opened the game by surrendering a successful onside kick. Instead, they responded with one of their most inspired performances.