The Wisconsin Badgers had a fruitful 13-10 victory over the No. 23 Washington Huskies over the weekend, riding a strong defensive performance for their first win in nearly two months.
Leading the charge
were freshmen linebackers Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano, who each had an impressive stat line.
Posa had 11 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in the win, making multiple game-changing plays for the Badgers. His strip-sack on Demond Williams Jr. inside the 10-yard line led to Wisconsin’s lone touchdown of the game. Then, he got the final stop of the game on 4th down to seal the victory for the Badgers.
Posa’s impressive performance, which came in only his second career start, was well-recognized nationally. He earned the Big Ten’s Co-Defensive Freshman of the Week and also got the Shaun Alexander Player of the Week Award, which is given to the most outstanding freshman.
He also became the first FBS player to record 10-plus tackles, 2-plus sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in a game this season. In addition, he was the first Badger to record 10 tackles and two sacks in a game since Leo Chenal in 2020.
His counterpart, Cooper Catalano, was equally impressive. His 19 tackles were the most by a Badgers player since 2011, when Mike Taylor recorded 22. And, since at least 1995, no other Badger freshman has recorded 19 tackles in a game. T.J. Edwards came the closest with 16 back in 2015, but that speaks to the magnitude of Catalano’s performance in only his second career start.
Both players are proving to be cornerstone pieces for the Badgers going forward, and they hit the record books in a crucial week for the Badgers on Saturday.
