Herald blogs: Extra Points: Football

What we learned: Week five

It was another wild finish in the annual battle for Paul Bunyan’s axe, but for the sixth year in a row the Wisconsin Badgers used it to chop down the goal posts. UW won it’s first road game of the year and in the process, moved to 5-0 on the season. Here is what we learned from an exhilarating week five victory: 

1. Tolzien can handle adversity

Wisconsin’s quarterback didn’t have his best day on Saturday, but he kept things under control and never seemed phased by the hostile environment. Tolzien threw a terrible interception early, and coughed up a fumble, but he was able to bounce back with a strong second half. Tolzien showed his toughness by lowering his shoulder on a few QB keepers and he showed off some speed on a wide open naked boot leg late in the game. 

2. The O-line is coming together

The offensive line has done an outstanding job protecting their quarterback all year, but the run-blocking has been inconsistent. After a strong performance in the Big Ten opener, the UW line continued their impressive play, opening up some huge holes against the Gophers. This group has shifted around a bit with Moffit moving to guard and Konz replacing him at center, but they are getting better each week, and the running game is putting up big numbers as a result.

3. Schofield is one of the best players in the Big Ten 

We knew this already, but Saturday’s performance made it clear that O’Brien Schofield is one of the best defensive players in the conference. The senior captain and the national leader in tackles for loss had a couple sacks and forced the fumble that sealed the win for the Badgers.

4. Special teams need to improve

UW was horrendous on kick return coverage Saturday and it nearly cost them. It seemed like the Gophers were set up with good field position to start every drive and that gave Weber and company a short field to work with. On punt and kick returns, David Gilreath struggled once again. Even the punt unit had some issues, as Nortman had one of his punts partially blocked. Luckily for UW, these poor performances didn’t result in a loss, but the special teams play is going to need improve quickly if the Badgers want to upset the Buckeyes.