In Jim Leonhard’s first game as interim head coach Saturday, the Wisconsin Badgers (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) rolled to a 42-7 win over the Northwestern Wildcats (1-5, 1-2 Big Ten) at Ryan Field.
The Badgers had quite an emotional week following the firing of ex-head coach Paul Chryst last Sunday. The controversial move came as quite a shock to the players in the locker room. Yet, the team was able to dominate on Saturday, proving their talent and capability of winning the Big Ten West.
The Badgers came into Saturday’s game favored, yet some remained unsure whether this team was mentally prepared to play. The Badgers proved doubters wrong.
According to Wisconsin Athletics, Graham Mertz threw for a career high 299 yards and tied his career high with five touchdown passes. Wide receiver Chimere Dike also had a big day, finishing with career highs in catches, yards and touchdowns. Dike got 185 yards and three touchdowns from 10 catches. Both Mertz and Dike were the highest-graded offensive players on the team. Mertz also finished as the highest-graded power five quarterback this weekend.
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“We have to play off our passing game,” Leonhard said in a press conference. “Teams are going to stop the run. They are going to load the box and dedicate a lot of attention to our running backs and o-line, and we have to be able to balance that out a little bit.”
The changes in offensive play-calling were obvious on Saturday. The team was passing on first down and staying out of third-and-long scenarios. Offensive Coordinator Bobby Engram ensured that it wasn’t predictable and kept the Northwestern defense on their toes for the entirety of the game.
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Saturday began with a strong opening drive from the Wisconsin offense, however, it ended with a missed 35-yard field goal attempt that was pulled too far right. The Northwestern offense took over, yet they weren’t able to do much and were forced to punt. The Wildcats’ special teams managed to down the ball at the Wisconsin two-yard line, backing them up deep into their own territory.
This sparked the beginning of a dominating offensive performance from the Badgers.
Quarterback Graham Mertz led the offense 98 yards in just five minutes which ended in a 15-yard touchdown reception by Skyler Bell to make it 7-0.
On the next possession, Wisconsin safety Kamo’I Latu intercepted Northwestern quarterback Ryan Hilinski for the first of two interceptions on the day for Latu. The junior safety transferred from Utah this offseason, and he has made his presence known in the Badger secondary this season.
The offense continued to roll following an interception from Chimere Dike, who caught a pass from Graham Mertz and maneuvered his way down the opposing sideline for 52 yards as he outran the Northwestern secondary for his first touchdown of the day. Dike scored his second touchdown later in the second quarter and helped the Badgers extend their lead to 21-0.
Wisconsin’s defense forced a three-and-out on three separate occasions in the first half, giving the Badger offense multiple opportunities to score. The most chaotic, yet impressive score of the game came on a botched play where Braelon Allen lined up in the wildcat formation, rolled outside to his right with multiple defenders approaching him, and found running back Chez Mellusi open downfield, leading to a 23-yard touchdown score. Allen sprinted to the endzone to celebrate with the offense and the team propelled themselves to a 28-0 lead at the half.
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In the third quarter, Latu intercepted his second pass of the game, and edge rusher Nick Herbig forced a fumble leading to the third turnover by the defense. The Badger defense allowed just 79 rush yards and an impressive 2.9 yards per carry.
The Badgers would go on to score twice in the fourth quarter, which included a touchdown grab from Markus Allen, his first of the season. The offense finished with 515 total yards, including 135 yards rushing from star running back Braelon Allen.
Something to note was that offensive coordinator Bobby Engram called plays from the sideline rather than up in the box for the first time this season.
Braelon Allen jokingly responded to reporters when asked about this by saying “(I) can tell him to his face, ‘get me the ball.’”
Saturday’s win was also just the second time this team has won in Evanston since 1999, now winning two out of the last eight matchups at Northwestern.
Now, the Badgers begin preparing for a trip to East Lansing for a matchup against the struggling Michigan State Spartans.
