The final score of the University of Wisconsin’s football team’s 14-7 loss to fourth-ranked Michigan looked better than the product the Badgers offense displayed on the field.
Physically, the Wolverines dominated the Badgers in nearly every facet that UW knew it would have to excel at in order to escape Michigan Stadium with an upset win. The Wolverines heralded secondary covered redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook’s targets to near perfection. Michigan’s front-seven bullied the Wisconsin offensive line to create a logjam for the running game, which only exacerbated Hornibrook’s woes in the passing game.
Despite all of that, the Badgers’ defense kept the team in the game, even without their leader Vince Biegel, who missed the game after undergoing surgery on a bone fracture in his foot Thursday night. The unit was once again impressive on the big stage. The defense will allow the Badgers to hang around in every game.
Football: Biegel to miss 2-4 weeks after surgery to repair fractured bone in foot
T.J. Watt is a certified beast. Jack Cichy and T.J. Edwards have to be among the top inside linebacker tandems in the nation. The defensive line’s impact doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but is vital to the team’s success. Credit first-year defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox for not only maintaining UW’s defensive strength in recent years, but improving it too.
That’s exactly why everything is still in front of this Badger team. One loss, for now, will not impede their path to Indianapolis, and then potentially the College Football Playoff. Ohio State University, University of Iowa and University of Nebraska are all tough games. But if UW can be within one possession of forcing overtime against a team like Michigan with an inept offense, this defense will give UW the opportunity to win any game, any time, anywhere. Even on the big stage.
Minor tweaks are necessary on offense though. Senior running back Corey Clement has to prove he has NFL-caliber talent. The defense needs to get healthy too. Luckily for the Badgers, Wisconsin has a bye week this weekend to figure all of this out.
They still control their own destiny. But the path to Indy starts in 10 days under the lights at Camp Randall, when the No. 2 Buckeyes come to town.
