Film room: Where Wisconsin football's defense must improve vs. Alabama
Breaking down the big plays Wisconsin surrendered vs. MTSU and how to correct them ahead of a clash with the Crimson Tide.
The Wisconsin football team's defense has looked good through two weeks. Potentially as good as it has looked in the Luke Fickell era.
The linebackers are flying around. The pass-rush seems revitalized. The run defense has been suffocating.
Still, despite all the purported improvements in year three of Mike Tressel calling the shots on defense in Madison, Middle Tennessee found ways to create big plays against the Badgers. Close to half (43 percent) of the Blue Raiders’ 243 yards came on four passing plays.
That means though MTSU was largely stymied, several chunk plays padded the stats of what was an otherwise ineffective offense. Still, that’s concerning with the Crimson Tide looming, especially when you take into account how last season’s matchup unfolded.
Alabama manhandled Wisconsin in just about every facet last fall, but it also notably shredded its secondary with big passing plays (touchdowns of 31, 37 and 47 yards).
Below, BadgerNotes.com dives into the big plays the Badgers surrendered, breaking down what went wrong and how they might correct them ahead of another daunting showdown with the Crimson Tide.
We’ll start with MTSU’s second offensive play of the game. The Blue Raiders go with a spread formation, stretching Wisconsin’s man defense thin. The Badgers are in their base 2-4-5 look, but that still leaves inside backer Christian Alliegro lined up against a wide receiver at the bottom of your screen:
Alliegro obviously can’t press the receiver, Myles Butler, because he’d blow right by him. But by giving him this cushion, it sets up an easy rub route by the slot receiver.
MTSU schemed this up nicely, knowing it would have a linebacker-on-receiver mismatch. This completion went for 15 yards — not a huge play by any standard — but the pick/rub route utilized here would be a common theme throughout the afternoon.
The biggest takeaway from this play? Wisconsin cannot get caught in personnel disarray. Alabama’s skill players are extremely talented as it is; having linebackers on wideouts in man coverage would spell disaster.
The next play is the biggest play the Badgers gave up all afternoon, a 37-yard completion on 3rd-and-10. Wideout Nahzae Cox, lined up at the bottom of your screen, beats cornerback Ricardo Hallman in 1-on-1 coverage here:
Wisconsin shows a big blitz here, and indeed, it sends seven men after the quarterback. The problem is that MTSU does an unbelievable job picking up said blitz. The halfback gets a great chip on Sebastian Cheeks coming off the edge, and Alliegro, who tried to penetrate the B-gap, was walled off and had to work back inside. That gives Blue Raiders’ quarterback Nicholas Vattiato a clean pocket and enough time to deliver a good ball.
That’s what transpired up front. On the outside, Hallman simply gets beat at the catch point. For as savvy and technically sound as he is, he’s not getting any taller. And the 6-foot-3 Cox has a solid five inches on him.
Ultimately, the Badgers had the numbers advantage on the blitz and couldn’t get home. That can’t happen in Tuscaloosa; if Wisconsin sells out to get after the quarterback, it needs to complete the sack or at least disrupt the play.
Cox wasn’t done tormenting the Badgers’ cornerbacks. He got right back to it on the next drive, this time lined up at the top of your screen against D’Yoni Hill: