The Wisconsin Badgers were looking for a more complete and consistent performance after an up-and-down first two weeks of the season. Well, after a slow start, that finally started to come to fruition in Week 3, as Wisconsin beat the Eastern Michigan Eagles 54-10 in a blowout win to cap off non-conference play.
Things didn’t look pretty early for the Badgers. Wisconsin had a solid start to their first drive, getting inside the Eastern Michigan 35-yard line. But Colton Joseph missed a vertical shot
to an open Emmett Bork on a play-action, slightly overthrowing his tight end. He then had an errant throw to Tyrell Henry on a corner before Henry dropped a slant on 4th & 4 to force a turnover on downs.
Eastern Michigan surprised everyone at Camp Randall Stadium with an eight-play, 67-yard touchdown drive on their first possession. Matt Jung had a coverage bust that led to a 23-yard completion, and Javan Robinson was easily beaten for an 18-yard touchdown on a go route to give the Eagles an early 7-0 lead.
Wisconsin’s offensive woes continued on their second drive, as Colton Joseph threw an ugly interception after rolling to his right, underthrowing the ball downfield for a turnover, rather than just checking it down to his running back or throwing it away.
Wisconsin was able to secure a three-and-out, though, and the offense finally got on the board with a 14-play, 70-yard drive that ultimately resulted in a field goal. Wisconsin had some nice runs on the drive and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes dialed up a couple of deep shots. Chris Brooks was open deep on a good route, but Joseph missed him too far (although the play would’ve been called back due to holding). But a third-down play-action call led to a wide-open Jacob Harris deep, getting the Badgers into scoring territory.
There, the Badgers got into the red zone, but a negative play on first down essentially killed their touchdown chances, and Wisconsin settled for a field goal.
Wisconsin’s defense opened the second quarter with another three-and-out, showing the aggressiveness that Luke Fickell called for this week. Bryce West blew up the first-down play with a tackle for loss, Eric Fletcher forced a pass breakup with tight coverage, and West wrapped up on an open-field tackle on third down for a quick defensive stop.
And that’s where the onslaught started. Wisconsin parlayed the stop into another long scoring drive, going 11 plays for 74 yards. This time, they finished with a touchdown. This drive included another pair of chunk plays in the air, as Tyrell Henry reeled in a nice catch on third down on an out route from the slot, while Jacob Harris took a play-action dump-off for 30 yards with 29 after the catch. From there, five straight rushes got the Badgers in the end zone for a 10-7 lead.
What happened next? You guessed it: a third straight three-and-out, followed by another deflected punt. And, after going 14 and 11 plays on their last two drives, the Badgers just needed one play for a touchdown on this one, as Chris Brooks easily beat his man for a 75-yard touchdown. The ball was underthrown, but Brooks came back to the ball and still had space to run in for the touchdown. Just like that, it was 17-7 Badgers.
The defense decided that three-and-outs were not ideal anymore, and even gave up an unnecessary facemask penalty on second down that got Eastern Michigan into Wisconsin territory. But a great look from Mike Tressel got pressure on the quarterback, and Noah Kim’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage, going into the hands of Mason Posa for Wisconsin’s first turnover of the season.
This time, instead of one play, Wisconsin needed two for a 42-yard touchdown drive. Jacob Harris started things with a phenomenal diving catch on Colton Joseph’s best throw of the season, and Darrion Dupree punched things in with a 10-yard rushing touchdown to make things 24-7. And Wisconsin wasn’t finished in the first half yet.
The aggressive defense was well on its way to another quick three-and-out, as Bryce West had another nice stop on first down and Jai’mier Scott nearly picked off a pass on second down. But Sebastian Cheeks was flagged for roughing the passer on third down with a late hit after Wisconsin blew up a screen pass, extending the drive. Nevertheless, that lasted one play, as Cheeks made it up with a nice pressure on first down, leading to a rushed throw, and Matt Jung made a phenomenal catch for Wisconsin’s second interception.
It was a Tyrell Henry drive after that, as Colton Joseph went to him three times for 35 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown with a nice toe drag to put the Badgers up 31-3 at halftime.
After the slow start, Wisconsin went 28 unanswered, with a lot of the success coming through the air, as Colton Joseph threw for over 300 yards in the first half alone.
Eastern Michigan started with the ball in the second half, but that was short-lived as the Badgers forced a three-and-out and got a strip-sack on third down (who else but Sebastian Cheeks) that Cooper Catalano scooped and scored for a touchdown.
At 38-10, it felt like the game was over. And Eastern Michigan had another three-and-out after that, running the ball on second and third and long. The scoring wasn’t done for the Badgers, though, as they went 12 plays for 57 yards, eating up the clock with eight runs, and they piled on another field goal from Gavin Lahm to make it 41-10.
Wisconsin started to put in some of their backups on defense, and Eastern Michigan finally found some offensive success with a 16-play drive that lasted over nine minutes and led to a field goal. That didn’t come without some bumps, though, as Noah Kim threw a pick-six to Eric Fletcher that was only negated because of an offsides penalty.
It felt like a good time to put the backups in, with the Badgers up 41-10, but Luke Fickell kept Colton Joseph and the starters out there for another drive, mixing in runs and passes as Wisconsin went 12 plays for 65 yards and their sixth touchdown of the day.
On the drive, Tyrell Henry broke the Badgers single-game reception record (14), capping his career day at 14 catches for 160 yards and a touchdown. Wisconsin also continued with the designed runs for Colton Joseph, despite the lead, and the drive capped with a play-action touchdown pass to Emmett Bork, who scored his first career touchdown.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Badgers capped off a great special teams day with a blocked field goal return for a touchdown on the final play from scrimmage.
Joseph would end his day with 362 passing yards, three touchdowns, and an interception, while adding 46 yards and a fourth score on the ground. In addition to Henry’s 160 yards, Chris Brooks added three catches for 91 yards and a touchdown, while Jacob Harris had three catches for 89 yards.
After the turnover on downs and the interception, Wisconsin’s offense ended up scoring on its next seven drives, finding ways to move the ball in multiple ways behind their transfer quarterback.
Defensively, the Badgers had a great game after a rough first drive, allowing just 216 yards while completely shutting down the run game. Sebastian Cheeks had a great game as a pass rusher, and the Badgers forced three turnovers, which had been a major problem in 2025 and to start the 2026 season.
This was the type of game that Wisconsin needed to see ahead of Big Ten play, as it was their most consistent effort yet. Now, they’ll head on the road to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions to kick off Big Ten play.
