Even with an extra week to prepare for tonight’s matchup with UCLA, Wisconsin football fell short in Pasadena, losing 17-7 to the Bruins.
The offense struggled to move the ball, and the passing game was nonexistent. They shot themselves in the foot on both sides of the ball tonight with back-breaking penalties. Whether some of those calls were correct or not is another story.
Traveling to the West Coast is never easy, but the Badgers looked flat and sloppy as they fell to 4-2, 2-1 Big Ten.
Here’s what stood out.
Game recap
The Badgers got off to a slow start coming off a bye. Offensively, they couldn’t quite get things going. They just seemed rusty. Maybe it was the bye week, maybe it was the travel to the West Coast. Whatever it was, it put Wisconsin behind the Bruins early.
The Bruins marched down the field on their first possessions, but the Badgers’ defense stiffened in the red zone, holding UCLA to a field goal.
On the next possession, Wisconsin seemed to get things figured out offensively, but a few questionable penalties killed the drive, and they gave the ball right back to UCLA. The Bruins marched down the field, and running back Wayne Knight got his Big Ten-leading 11th rushing touchdown to go up 10-0 over Wisconsin.
Wisconsin got into the UCLA redzone near the end of the first but missed a field goal to go into the break down ten points.
The Badgers came out of the half with a huge defensive possession. On a trick play, Mason Posa pressured the passer, and safety Marvin Burks intercepted it.
The Badgers finally broke free and put points on the board on the ensuing possession, with a heavy dose of Colton Joseph on the ground, ending with a 3-yard touchdown run.
On the next UCLA possession, the Badgers tried to help the Bruins, allowing them to turn a 2nd-and-26 into a first down in two plays, followed by another 3rd-and-long stop that turned into a first down after a defensive pass interference call. But UCLA couldn’t capitalize, and the Badgers eventually held on on a 4th-down play, forcing a turnover on downs.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin couldn’t capitalize on the turnover, either. Wisconsin gave the ball back to UCLA, who marched down the field, aided by a targeting call on Matt Jung, to punch in another rushing touchdown, putting UCLA up 17-7 with 11:31 left.
After that, the offense continued to struggle and was forced to pass. UCLA moved the chains and eventually ran the clock out before the Badgers could threaten again.
What stood out
• Wisconsin’s run defense can still be depended on
One thing we knew going into this game is UCLA would try to get Wayne Knight going on the ground. Knight was among the leaders in the country in yards per carry (7.7) and averaged 109.6 yards per game
Wisconsin’s stout run defense shut him down. Although Knight still found the endzone tonight, and for the 11th time this season, the Badgers held the talented back to just 23 yards on 13 carries, a lowly 1.8 yards per carry.
Even with plenty of negatives for the Badgers tonight, the run defense wasn’t one of them.
• Offensive line continuity is still a concern
With starting center Austin Kawecki missing the game, the Badgers shuffled the offensive line and started Stylz Blackmon, who had been getting a couple starts and all his reps at right guard, at center instead of Ryan Cory.
They replaced him with PJ Wilkins, who started the season at left tackle before Kevin Heywood replaced him two weeks ago against Michigan State. Wilkins struggled at his new position, allowing pressures at an alarming rate.
Injuries are inevitable, but they are killing Wisconsin this year. When you think they’re moving in the right direction, a new injury pops up.
Hopefully missing this game will ensure Kawecki’s return next week when the Badgers host USC.
• The secondary has a shaky game after a few strong performances
Just when you thought the secondary was coming around and becoming a true strength of the defense, they struggled against the Bruins’ backup quarterback.
I felt like I was having flashbacks to Week 1 when CJ Carr seemingly completed pass after pass against the Badgers and moved down the field in the second half. Ty Dieffenbach picked the Badgers apart all night, dropping the ball into some open windows, especially on third downs when the Bruins looked all but dead in the water, giving them new life time and time again on offense.
At the end of the game, when the defense needed a stop, they couldn’t clamp down and force a stop through the air. Dieffenbach finished with 264 yards and completed 67% of his passes.
Not great.
Game Balls
QB Colton Joseph: While the passing game was a disaster, you can’t place all the blame on Joseph. He didn’t exactly have a ton of time to pass the ball tonight. But aside from passing, his running game was the Badgers’ offense tonight. He finished as the team’s top rusher (again) with 71 yards on the ground and the Badgers’ lone touchdown tonight.
He tried to keep the Badgers in it tonight, but without that passing attack, he could only do so much with his legs.
LB Mason Posa: As usual, the sophomore linebacker was all over the field. He pressured wide receiver Semaj Morgan on the trick play, forcing a bad pass that Marvin Burks intercepted and ending the Bruins’ first drive of the second half.
Posa also led the team with seven solo tackles and a tackle for a loss. As usual, he brought energy to the defense. While Posa’s energy can sometimes be a little much and can lead to some penalties, you take that energy and attitude anytime you can get it.
Stats of the game
10: The Badgers had 10 penalties tonight that went for 102 yards.
66: Colton Joseph threw for just 66 yards tonight.
120: Wisconsin allowed just 120 rushing yards tonight against the Bruins, who averaged 253 yards per game coming into this game.
5: Wisconsin had just five total explosive plays tonight: two passing plays of 15+ yards and three rushing plays of 10+ yards, and one of those rushing plays was essentially negated after Colton Joseph’s unsportsmanlike penalty.
What’s next
Wisconsin (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) will be back home next week to host USC (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten). The Trojans are coming off a bye week.
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