Wisconsin football report card from 42-10 win over Middle Tennessee State
Handing out grades for the Wisconsin Badgers offense, defense, and special teams from the 42-10 win over Middle Tennessee in Week 2.
Luke Fickell and the University of Wisconsin football team took care of business in Week 2, advancing to 2–0 on the season with a 42-10 win over Derek Mason and Middle Tennessee State at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.
On paper, it looked like what you’d probably expect against a C-USA opponent that came in 0–9 all-time against Big Ten programs. But if you watched it, you saw a Badgers team still working through some issues, and also flashing the kind of upside that can win games down the road.
That's just what we've come to expect from Wisconsin under this regime: a model of inconsistency. You can have it all with a Fickell-led team, but you cannot have it all at once. That's a fundamental truth until proven otherwise.
It was a Jekyll-and-Hyde performance, but one that checked a lot of the boxes after an uneven opener against Miami (OH). Danny O’Neil got the start at quarterback in place of the injured Billy Edwards Jr., and the offense made a point of spreading things around — 15 different players caught a pass (9) or took a handoff (6). Defensively, Wisconsin dictated the pace, even if it didn't come until the second half. All told, the Badgers are 2–0 for the second straight season under Fickell, the seventh time in the last decade that the program has opened with back-to-back wins.
“Well, there’s a tale of two halves,” Fickell told reporters. “To be honest with you, we didn’t play very well in the first half. We didn’t execute anywhere near the way I thought we prepared... I think there are things you have to find ways to grow, but we settled down a little bit after half.
"We didn’t come out in the second half and just shut them down. It took a fourth-down stop to create energy and momentum, and that then shifted the entire game. But all’s well that ends well. After those first eight minutes of the third quarter, we started creating big plays and energy. I hope we see the way in which we can play on both sides of the ball."
With that as the backdrop, let’s hand out some grades.
Offense: B
Danny O’Neil’s first career start at Wisconsin was the headline on offense, and the San Diego State transfer delivered exactly what this team needed: efficiency and confidence. O’Neil went 23-of-27 for 283 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. It was the most passing yards by a Badgers quarterback in their starting debut since 1951. That led to a 0.52 EPA per dropback, which was 90th percentile nationally in Week 2.
He also showed the kind of poise Wisconsin simply didn’t have with its QB2 a season ago. If you want to nitpick, there was the interception that never should’ve been thrown in the first place and a couple of other somewhat errant throws that flirted with danger. But O'Neil played with confidence, he distributed the ball, and he gave Wisconsin a competent passing game, something this program hasn’t had consistently.
"Sometimes when you go back and evaluate the things you're asking him to do, yeah, we can be cleaner in the first half, but the things we were asking him to do, I think that he settled in and did a much better job of having that confidence level," Fickell said of O'Neil. "But I think that his ability to be a little bit more under control and do the things we're asking him to do. That's what I was as impressed with as anything."
The biggest beneficiary was senior tight end Lance Mason, who had a breakout performance with seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, including five first downs. He looked fluid as a route runner, athletic, and like a piece that this offense can begin to feature more moving forward.
The run game, though, was a different story.
Wisconsin carried the ball 16 times for just 17 yards in the first half, an abysmal number against a C-USA defense. Yes, the offensive line was shuffled all over the place with Jake Renfro out and Davis Heinzen sliding down the depth chart after a rough opener, but still, it’s very concerning. In the end, the Badgers finished with 31 carries for 153 yards. But of that total, only 80 of the yards came from the team's top four running backs.
"I thought that was something that kind of came up on a Monday practice that was a little bit of a surprise to us," Fickell said of Renfro. "I don’t think anybody probably knew that until gametime. We were hoping that by late in the week, he’d be okay... You hope that he'll be okay next week."
The staff went with Riley Mahlman at left tackle, Emerson Mandell at right tackle, Kerry Kodanko at center (who had plenty of issues), and gave redshirt freshman Colin Cubberly his first career start at guard. That’s a lot of moving pieces, and it showed. But to the team's credit, Wisconsin didn’t commit a penalty against MTSU, marking the first time since Oct. 22, 2016, against Iowa that the Badgers were not penalized. Consider that a significant positive.
To Jeff Grimes’ credit, Wisconsin's first-year offensive coordinator found creative ways to mask those shortcomings. Trech Kekahuna ripped off a 61-yard touchdown on a reverse. Vinny Anthony added a 14-yard rushing score on a similar look. That multiplicity helped keep the chains moving and gave Wisconsin some explosiveness. Still, the fact remains: if this offensive line doesn’t improve, it won’t matter against top-tier opponents.
A really good offensive line can make an average running back look great. But a great running back can also make an average offensive line look a lot better than it actually is. And right now, I’m not convinced Wisconsin’s offensive line is going to be great this year, not with the issues they’ll be forced to sort out as the season goes on. That’s why I think we’re going to get a pretty good read on who Jones and Dupree are in 2025, because what they're able to overcome against opposing teams will tell us plenty.
"We're all disappointed in 17 yards in the first half," Fickell said. "It's not hard to look at that. We've got to correct some things and figure some things out. But I told the running backs afterwards, I went over to their group and I said, "Hey, I appreciate their heads were up at half. They came out at halftime, and all three of them were pushing on the O line and didn't look like they were in a pouty bad mood based on who got carries.
“I know nobody got many yards, you'd like to think you should be a lot further. We didn't do a great job in Week 1. We didn't do a great job in the first half, and we know that's where we've got to continue to grow."
But as far as a bounce-back performance goes? The advanced numbers from Game on Paper back it up: 436 total yards of offense (283 passing, 153 rushing), 51.3 yards per drive, and 13 explosive plays that accounted for 12% of their snaps — an 85th percentile explosive-play rate. They averaged 8.3 yards per play (93rd percentile nationally) with a modest 0.03 EPA per play, right around the 50th percentile. Put that together with a backup QB who looked comfortable and some young pieces flashing, and it’s enough to earn a solid B. But the Badgers cannot afford to start this slow against a real football team, or they'll get boatraced.
Defense: B-
This is the side of the ball where the grading feels trickiest. Wisconsin gave up 146 yards in the first half, nearly as much as Middle Tennessee managed to accumulate in its entire opener against Austin Peay.
They allowed 5.2 yards per play, and the starting corners, Ricardo Hallman, D’Yoni Hill, and Geimere Latimer, all surrendered explosive plays. Hallman was beaten on a 37-yard shot down the right hash that set up the Blue Raiders’ first points of the game. Hill gave up a 35-yarder down the sideline in the opening quarter, punctuated by an ill-timed celebration, and Latimer allowed a 21-yard completion early in the third.
At times, the secondary just looked shaky when asked to play out on an island, and that’s a problem with Alabama on deck.
But credit where it’s due: Mike Tressel and his staff adjusted at halftime.
The Badgers outscored Middle Tennessee State 28-0 in the second half, pitched a shutout, and allowed just 95 yards after the break (down to 3.0 yards per play). The defense finished with eight tackles for loss, five sacks, and an interception from redshirt freshman corner Omillio Agard.
The inside linebacker duo of Tackett Curtis and Christian Alliegro also popped off the screen at times, flying around and looking dynamic when the defensive line did its job occupying space. Curtis finished with seven tackles and his first sack of the year, while Alliegro matched him with seven stops of his own and set a career high with two tackles for loss.
Additionally, Wisconsin’s outside linebackers found a way to stay disruptive. Mason Reiger posted a 90.2 defensive grade with an 86.4 as a pass rusher across 41 defensive snaps, generating five pressures, four QB hurries, and four total tackles. Sebastian Cheeks, building on his strong outing a week ago, added three total tackles, three pressures, and a sack while grading out at 76.3, per Pro Football Focus. And Darryl Peterson quietly did some really nice things, setting the edge as a run defender.
The concern: those early leaks. Against a Big Ten opponent, Wisconsin may not have the luxury of working its way into the game. Still, adjustments matter, and this defense made them. After giving up 241 total yards overall, the Badgers held Middle Tennessee to just 33 rushing yards on 28 attempts, which is a paltry 1.2 yards per carry. They racked up eight tackles for loss, five sacks, forced a takeaway on a well-timed Agard interception, and limited the Blue Raiders to 5-of-14 on third downs.
"That's a little bit of the disappointing thing defensively, we didn't play very clean in the first half, and then they made a couple plays, they threw the ball down the field," Fickell said. "But it takes a spark, and to be quite honest with you, we got a fortunate review and they put it back a half a yard behind, and um we made a play, and it's amazing how that can kind of spark a lot of different things, and um for whatever reason it did.
"We know that they're we've got to find ways to do that, and when you have momentum, you've got to keep it, and we created some there. We did a really good job at keeping it throughout the rest of the game."
Most importantly, the Badgers outscored MTSU 28-0 in the second half, allowing only 95 yards of offense to the Blue Raiders after halftime while cutting their yards per play from 5.2 in the first half down to 3.0. On a drive-by-drive basis, Wisconsin allowed just 28.2 yards, and its 15% havoc rate graded out in the 80th percentile nationally. Call it a B- overall, but one with enough second-half flashes to keep things moving forward.
Special Teams: C+
It wouldn’t be a Wisconsin game under this staff without a few head-scratching special teams moments.
The first punt of the day was a 33-yarder from Atticus Bertrams that was returned 15 yards to the 23, a brutal start in what felt like unaccaptable punt coverage from Wisconsin's unit. Later, Tyrell Henry made the curious decision to let a 54-yard punt he could have fair caught roll all the way to the 1-yard line, pinning the offense deep. And while the second punt from Bertrams (46 yards, no return) was clean, the inconsistency stood out.
Special teams have never been a real strength under this staff, and the -1.16 EPA from this phase reflected that.
There were positives, though. Kicker Nathanial Voss connected on all six of his extra point attempts, walk-on safety Charlie Jarvis came up with a blocked punt in the fourth quarter that set Wisconsin up at the MTSU 47 (they led 35-10 at that point), and Vinny Anthony chipped in a nice 25-yard return. Those moments kept momentum rolling in the second half.
But overall, this phase was sloppy enough to bring their grade down to a C+, despite some good moments. Against Middle Tennessee State, you get away with the shortcomings. Against a better opponent? It can’t be a liability, and that’s the context I’m using to grade against. One other thing worth mentioning: at the end of the first half, with more than a minute left and three timeouts in his pocket, Fickell chose not to be aggressive and push for points. With Vakos, the program’s all-time leader in field goals of 50+ yards standing on the sideline, that felt overly conservative.
Wisconsin will travel to Tuscaloosa for a matchup against Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide next Saturday, Sept. 13th, at 11 AM CT.
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