The Wisconsin Badgers blew past the Michigan State Spartans 31-3 on Saturday, taking a 4-1 record into their bye week as they had one of the more complete performances of the season.
It was another stellar performance from the defense, as Wisconsin held Michigan State to just three points. They held the Spartans to only 108 passing yards and 3.2 yards per pass, while limiting them to a combined 6 of 24 on third and fourth downs.
Here are the snap counts and PFF grades for Wisconsin’s defense from the team’s
Week 5 win over Michigan State.
Defensive Line
Hammond Russell IV – Snap Count: [29], Grade: 67.2
Charles Perkins – Snap Count: [28], Grade: 63.3
Junior Poyser – Snap Count: [24], Grade: 68.8
Nolan Vils – Snap Count: [23], Grade: 60.9
DeNigel Cooper – Snap Count: [22], Grade: 47.1
Dillan Johnson – Snap Count: [21], Grade: 60.0
Jacob Anderson – Snap Count: [16], Grade: 44.7
Will McDonald – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 62.0
The Badgers have settled into their deep defensive line rotation, which includes seven players.
With the blowout, a lot of the reserves got to play some more snaps, as we saw one of the more even distributions of the season.
Charles Perkins had two pressures, while Nolan Vils, Junior Poyser, and Hammond Russell each had one.
Outside Linebackers
Sebastian Cheeks – Snap Count: [59], Grade: 75.7
Tyreese Fearbry – Snap Count: [38], Grade: 67.5
Nicolas Clayton – Snap Count: [27], Grade: 53.8
Justus Boone – Snap Count: [27], Grade: 59.0
Michael Garner – Snap Count: [7], Grade: 61.1
Liam Danitz – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 60.7
Sebastian Cheeks was unstoppable as a pass rusher. He had nine pressures in this game and a pass-rush win rate of 25.7 percent.
Tyreese Fearbry also added four pressures, although his PFF win rate was just 5.6 percent. Wisconsin has been looking for another pass rusher opposite Cheeks in their front seven. Nicolas Clayton got his most snaps of the season, but did not record a pressure.
Additionally, Justus Boone got a lot of reps, as the Badgers primarily ran four deep at outside linebacker.
Linebackers
Mason Posa – Snap Count: [71], Grade: 77.1
Cooper Catalano – Snap Count: [71], Grade: 72.0
Jon Jon Kamara – Snap Count: [15], Grade: 70.5
Taylor Schaefer – Snap Count: [10], Grade: 69.7
Thomas Heiberger – Snap Count: [8], Grade: 77.1
Drew Braam – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 60.4
Not much of a surprise here. Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano both had big games, racking up 19 tackles combined and 14 defensive stops, according to PFF. Posa even had two pressures.
The game script allowed for some more snaps from the reserve linebackers, with Jon Jon Kamara being the No. 3 linebacker once again.
Cornerbacks
Javan Robinson – Snap Count: [71], Grade: 67.2
Bryce West – Snap Count: [58], Grade: 66.6
Jai’mier Scott – Snap Count: [48], Grade: 68.3
Eric Fletcher Jr. – Snap Count: [42], Grade: 73.4
Raphael Dunn – Snap Count: [9], Grade: 63.0
Donovan Dunmore – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 60.2
Javan Robinson has really started to ascend the last two weeks. He allowed a passer rating of just 56.3 while being targeted six times in this game.
It was a ton of nickel, which gave Bryce West more snaps, while the Badgers got Eric Fletcher in the game more as well in the field corner rotation.
Safeties
Matthew Jung – Snap Count: [67], Grade: 73.1
Marvin Burks Jr. – Snap Count: [46], Grade: 68.2
Cairo Skanes – Snap Count: [34], Grade: 66.5
Carson Van Dinter – Snap Count: [12], Grade: 66.2
Grant Dean – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 61.2
Matthew Traynor – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 60.7
The safety rotation looked similar as well, with the Badgers mainly going to Matt Jung, Marvin Burks, and Cairo Skanes. Skanes got a bit more work at safety this week, while Carson Van Dinter got some late-game snaps as well.
Jung had five tackles, while Burks and Skanes each had one. The ball simply didn’t get that far on Saturday.
