It was certainly a fun first half for the Wisconsin football team in the season-opening game against the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but the mistakes came back to bite them.
After a back-and-forth first half that ended with a 13-10 Irish lead at the half, the Badgers fell behind quickly in the third quarter after Notre Dame marched down the field in their opening possession of the half, followed quickly by a Colton Joseph pick-six to put Notre Dame up 27-10.
A lengthy drive by the Badgers ended in Irish territory, but the Badgers were able to get three points from a 36-yard field goal by Lahm, cutting the lead to 27-13.
Notre Dame flexed their muscles, marching right down the field, capped off by an Aneyas Williams rushing touchdown to put the No. 4 Irish up 34-13 with 10:48 left in the game.
Notre Dame scored another touchdown late on a pass from CJ Carr to Nolan James Jr. to put the Irish up 41-13, which ended up being the final score.
What stood out
The offense is vastly improved
Initially, I was impressed with the team as a whole. The offense moved the ball much better than they did a year ago. Quarterback Colton Joseph is a big reason why. While Joseph has his flaws, the Badgers’ new quarterback can make plays that nobody on the roster could last season. His running ability also opens things up for the running backs, too.
Joseph finished his first game as a Badger throwing 19-for-30 for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The stats may not pop off the page, but it could have been a lot worse going against one of the best defenses in the country.
Malachi Coleman paced the Badgers’ passing attack, catching four passes for 76 yards and the lone Wisconsin touchdown.
The defense has one glaring problem
The defense held up well early against the Notre Dame rushing attack, which was among the best in the country last season. The Irish switched up their game plans and started gashing the Badgers’ defense through the air. CJ Carr looked cool, calm, and collected in the pocket the entire second half, completing pass after pass for chunk plays.
The passing attack softened up the rush defense, allowing Notre Dame to run the ball much more effectively in the second half than the first.
By the end of the game, Carr finished with a solid stat line, completing 19-for-29 for 239 yards and two touchdowns. The secondary, which I thought looked fast and capable during fall camp, had a day to forget.
The Badgers are still shooting themselves in the foot
Under Luke Fickell, back-breaking mistakes have become a common problem. Unfortunately, it was more of the same in their first game this season. The muffed kick by Harrison Bortolotti put the Irish in prime field position, giving them their first touchdown and lead of the game.
The pick-six by Joseph early in the second half was an early nail in the coffin. After a first half filled with competition and excitement, the Badgers start to fall back a bit and then make a mistake that they just can’t come back from. We’ve all seen this play out before.
“Obviously, a tale of two halves,” Fickell said. “I don’t have a great explanation for the second half. I give them a lot of credit. We held the energy and created a lot of momentum in the first half, and in the second half, we couldn’t do that. They physically got after us.
“We felt like we were in a really good place in the first half. In the second half, the energy and momentum shifted in one direction, and we could never get it back. I think that’s the most difficult thing.”
Until this team can limit the mistakes, they are going to struggle to stay in games like this or even close out games they should win.
Game Balls
P Sean West: The Wisconsin punter is back at it again, showing that he is one of the biggest weapons on the team and certainly one that nobody outside the program talks about. In the second quarter, the Badgers specialist uncorked a 70-yard punt that checked up and rolled parallel to the goal line, going out of bounds at the one-yard line.
Edge Sebastian Cheeks: It was a common occurrence during fall camp, with Sebastian Cheeks getting in the backfield and causing problems.
The senior edge rusher made his mark early in this game, getting to Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr on the first possession with a strip-sack on third down, forcing a fumble and ultimately making the Irish punt it away. He turned Notre Dame away again late in the first half, getting to Carr and forcing an incompletion to effectively end the drive before halftime. Cheeks finished with two tackles, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup.
Stat of the night
Wisconsin held the Irish to just 1.8 yards per carry in the first half. In the second half, however, Notre Dame was averaging a massive 5.1 yards per carry.
What’s next
The Badgers (0-1) return home in Week 2 to face Western Illinois (1-1) on Saturday night at 6:15 p.m. on BTN. The Leathernecks are coming off a 41-10 loss to Illinois State.
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