The Wisconsin Badgers were blown out in a 34-0 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, having no answers from the jump in yet another disappointing game.
It marks Wisconsin’s fifth straight loss and ninth straight in conference play dating back to last season, and is the second-straight scoreless outing for the Badgers.
The Badgers had no offense, struggling to run the ball all day long, while Julian Sayin diced up the defense, throwing for a career-high 394 yards and four touchdowns.
Here are
three quick takeaways from the Badgers 34-0 loss to the Buckeyes on Saturday.
Jeff Grimes playcalling
Two weeks ago, in Wisconsin’s 24-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines, I pointed out the importance of throwing on early downs to open up both the run and the pass game for the Badgers.
In that game, there was a stretch of seven consecutive punts for the Badgers. On those seven drives, Wisconsin ran the ball on first down seven times for 13 yards. They threw three times, completing two passes for 23 yards.
Well, in the first half on Saturday, Badgers offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes continued to have the same plan, to no avail.
Wisconsin had six drives in the first half. Five were punts, with four of those being three-and-outs. The other was an interception because of a drop. Want to guess how many times Wisconsin threw the ball on first down on those drives? 1.
Yes, 1 time. Which was a 15-yard completion to Jackson McGohan! The other eight first downs were runs, which went for a total of 14 yards. That’s 1.75 yards per carry. It’s impossible to sustain drives when you’re constantly backed up on second and third downs, especially against potentially the best defense in the country.
Grimes didn’t give Wisconsin a chance. They’re nowhere near good enough to block runs when Ohio State knows exactly what’s coming and dares the Badgers to throw the ball.
Grimes had two jet sweeps to Dilin Jones from the slot on 1st downs that were poorly designed with no back in the backfield. If there’s no back in the backfield, there’s no fake whatsoever, and Wisconsin hasn’t thrown the ball out of that alignment much, if at all, this season. So, Ohio State expected a run, and the Badgers got gains of two and zero yards, immediately leading to three-and-outs.
When it comes to “creativity”, that’s a part of it. Showing the same formations but giving different looks out of them to test defenses. You need to fake jet sweeps for handoffs or play-action throws for them to be effective after running them for seven straight weeks.
Then, there was the run on 3rd & 4 on a drive where Wisconsin went run, run, run and went three-and-out. That shows no faith in Hunter Simmons, who wasn’t good last week, but is someone the Badgers clearly needed to give a chance to if they wanted to be competitive.
Wisconsin went run, run, pass, or run, run, run on four of its six offensive drives. Right now, the Badgers are very depleted offensively, but Grimes is giving them nothing. And that’s really disappointing, given how he’s called plays at times this season.
In the second half, down 20-0 after an Ohio State field goal, Wisconsin’s urgency finally started as they threw on first down. Hunter Simmons had a batted pass (which has been way too common for a 6’3 quarterback), missed a possible out route to Vinny Anthony on second down, and had a short pass on a very weird play design on third down for a three-and-out.
Ohio State answered with a touchdown, and Wisconsin’s urgency went out the door after that. They started running the ball again on first down, and the punting remained a recurring theme.
Overall, it felt like Grimes never had any confidence in his quarterbacks. Which is understandable, given the quarterback play, but a losing way to coach.
The Badgers have a struggling offensive line and some poor quarterback play. But, it feels they’re not having the urgency required to be competitive in games, and that stems from a coaching issue, which leads to my next takeaway…
Playing not to lose
“Playing not to lose.”
That’s a phrase I’ve said quite a bit this season when describing head coach Luke Fickell’s decision-making. In his first year, he was near the NCAA’s highest when it came to punting in plus territory.
And the questionable game management has followed him throughout his Wisconsin career, as it feels he plays not to lose, rather than to win. What does that mean?
Well, on Saturday, the Badgers had a prime opportunity at the end of the first half, benefitting from a missed field goal from kicker Jayden Fielding. With 1:07 left in the half, the Badgers had the ball at their own 20-yard line with two timeouts left.
At the time, they were down 17-0, and Ohio State would get the ball to start the second half. So, being aggressive and getting a score to end the half seemed like a good idea. Well, Fickell elected to run the ball three times, and Ohio State actually called timeouts, testing the Badgers.
Wisconsin went into the half after a punt down 17-0 with loud boos from the fans. Coming out of the half, Ohio State put together a long field goal drive and then a touchdown drive on their ensuing possession to bump the score 27-0.
That type of mentality won’t win you games against the No. 1 team in the country. And Fickell has shown that behavior in nearly every single game this week.
On the flip side, Ohio State went for it on a 4th & 1 in their territory, sneaking it for a first down. Given those types of opportunities, Fickell has generally looked to punt, as he did on Wisconsin’s first drive (which wasn’t a bad decision).
Fickell needs some help because game management has been a problem throughout his career, be it go-for decisions, timeout usage, or pure conservativeness.
Answers
This game was uglier than the box score looked.
Ohio State out-gained Wisconsin 491 to 144 (50 of those yards came on the final drive). They had 7.0 yards per play, as opposed to 3.1 for Wisconsin. They had 26 first downs in comparison to nine for the Badgers.
And it wasn’t a game where the Badgers were super undisciplined. They actually had fewer penalties than the Buckeyes. They had only one turnover. It was just a game of sheer execution versus execution, and Ohio State dominated in pretty much every category.
At the moment, Wisconsin just doesn’t seem to have an answer for anything.
Offensively, they’ve been very adamant on keeping the same strategy with the run game, with the hope that something will break through eventually. That hasn’t been the case. At quarterback, there hasn’t been any stability, and Billy Edwards’s future is very unclear. The offensive line remains a big question, as there hasn’t been any above-average player in the group so far, with several below-average candidates.
At wide receiver, there shouldn’t be a single game where Trech Kekahuna gets only one touch at the end of the game. Vinny Anthony having two is not a good thing either, with that lone catch coming on a weird screen play.
Defensively, the Badgers stopped the run well, but that’s against a team that was in the bottom half of the country running the ball. Ohio State also didn’t have lead back Bo Jackson. Against the pass, they had no answers. Julian Sayin got the ball out quickly to receivers, who constantly broke tackles or had open space.
Right now, there isn’t an identity on either side of the ball, and neither can play at its highest level without the other being good as well. The Badgers are one of the worst offenses in the FBS.
Worst of all, there just doesn’t seem to be an answer right now. Fickell has stressed the same messaging of having nothing to lose, but it feels like he’s lost right now without having the answers.
Things don’t get much easier with the Oregon Ducks up next weekend on the road. After that, the Badgers have a bye week before a tough end to the schedule as well.
