It was a classic tale of two halves in Bloomington Saturday afternoon, with the Wisconsin Badgers being almost the equal of the Indiana Hoosiers in the first and the home squad rolling over Bucky in the second
after some halftime adjustments and running Gideon Ituka being scarily knocked out of the game on the way to a 31-7 Indiana victory.
The game wasn’t great or horrible for the Badgers, but some areas were definitely better than others.
Offense
The Good: For much of the first half, Wisconsin was able to control the ball and look like a functional Big Ten offense against an outstanding Indiana defense with a true freshman quarterback making his first start and a fourth-string running back toting the rock.
The Bad: The second half was a borderline disaster, and the team ended with 168 total yards, going a horrid 2/11 on 3rd down, much of it after Ituka went down.
The Ugly: The offense managed one touchdown drive and scored under 10 points again.
Grade: C-
Defense:
Yes, they wore down but still showed signs of having turned the corner courtesy of some strong play from Mason Posa (again) and Darryl Peterson. IU averaged 2.2 yards a carry. The Badgers’ front seven is doing the job (it also had five sacks).
The secondary was, in two words, not good, but I can give them some grace, given that they were facing the best quarterback in college football in Fernando Mendoza, who might throw it harder than Fernando Valenzuela.
Grade: B
Special Teams
Starting a road game as a massive underdog by missing a makeable field goal is just brutal stuff. That position needs to be upgraded in the off-season. Vinny Anthony was solid on kick returns with a 26.7 average. Sean West averaged over 50 per punt and pinned the Hoosiers deep three times, albeit without leading the Badgers in passing or rushing.
Grade: B-
Coaching
This game was a microcosm of all the highs and lows from the coaching staff all season, but the Badgers definitely came in with a good game plan. They just didn’t have the talent to make it work all game. This coaching effort against Illinois would have gotten a C-, but against No. 2 Indiana, it’s pretty decent.
Grade: B-
Overall
While the Badgers fought hard and avoided total disaster as a 29.5-point underdog, it’s hard to ever get excited about a 31-7 loss. Showing up and not rolling over matters, however, so the grade isn’t bad.
Grade: C+
