Missed opportunities and penalties once again plagued the University of Wisconsin football team in Bloomington this past Saturday — the Badgers lost to the Indiana Hoosiers for the first time since 2002, 20–14.
The offense — which was without both Braelon Allen and Chimere Dike — struggled mightily in the game. Despite out-gaining the Hoosiers 344 yards to 261, freshman quarterback Braedyn Locke was never able to find his rhythm in the game.
“I think all of us get a little bit frustrated, and you want to see some things continue to grow,” Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell said after the game. “Right now, we keep shooting ourselves in the foot … we’re just not able to overcome those situations right now.”
The Badgers did indeed shoot themselves in the foot plenty of times on offense. Penalties once again played a major role in UW’s offensive woes.
UW committed five penalties on the offensive side of the football for a total of 34 yards. While the yardage may appear small, four of those penalties came on later downs, where the Badgers have struggled this year.
With the Badger backfield missing both Allen and Chez Mellusi, the brunt of the offensive workload was directed toward the passing game. Locke threw the football 41 times and completed 51% of his throws.
Will Pauling continued to be the Badgers featured receiver. The sophomore was targeted 16 times and hauled in just five of those targets for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Bryson Green also featured a heavy role in the passing game. The wide receiver hauled in a 54-yard touchdown in the second quarter for the Badgers’ first score of the game.
The Hoosiers, on the other hand, had no problem converting on third down. The IU offense converted at a 50% clip against the Badger defense which proved to be the difference maker in the game.
The Badger defense once again kept the team in the game and held IU to just 244 yards of offense. The defense played especially well in the ground game and quelled Indiana’s running backs to just 1.8 yards per carry.
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While the defense did well at keeping the Badgers within striking distance, their effort was not without mistakes.
The Badger secondary was penalized three times for pass interference. Two of those came on crucial third downs which would have given the Badger offense another opportunity to close the gap.
Simple mistakes and penalties have become the theme of this Badger football season, a trend many were hoping would change with Fickell at the helm.
Fickell’s squad now finds itself facing an uphill battle if they hope to win their division.
Just a win shy from qualifying for bowl season, the Badgers will look to bring their losing streak to an end against the Northwestern University Wildcats this Saturday at Camp Randall.
If the Badgers can find a way to play the cohesive brand of football Fickell promised to bring, they still have a shot at recapturing the glory of the past.
“We still had a chance to find a way to win the game at the end,” Fickell said. “That’s becoming a recurring theme for us. As a coach, I’ve got to find a way to get us over that hump. It’s not just on making plays, it’s also on finding a recipe for making ways to finish.”
