The Wisconsin Badgers got a huge 27-10 win over the No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday, impressing on both sides of the ball in their final home game of the season.
Wisconsin made timely plays,
be it an 84-yard rushing touchdown from Darrion Dupree on offense or the five sacks on defense, and they held their first halftime lead in Big Ten play this season.
The Badgers also scored two touchdowns for the first time since Week 3 and cracked the 20-point barrier for the first time since their 42-10 win over Middle Tennessee.
It adds another marquee win to the resume of head coach Luke Fickell, and the Badgers now have a chance to turn things around and go 5-7 with a road win over Minnesota next weekend.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 27-10 win over Illinois on Saturday.
Jeff Grimes (again)
For the second straight week, I came away pleased with offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’s playcalling with a freshman quarterback.
The Badgers had a nice 16-play, 80-yard drive that soaked up 9:30 of clock on their opening drive, with Grimes making a few timely calls to extend the drive. There was a combination of end-arounds, quarterback runs, and regular handoffs to the running back on the ground. In the air, the plays were meant to get the ball out quickly.
Carter Smith had his ups and downs with timing, hurting some of those chances, but he finished that drive 4/4 for 40 yards in the air with some quick completions. Grimes had a nice call with a pump fake leading to an open Lance Mason on the sideline for a nice chunk play. Wisconsin converted three third-downs on the drive and ultimately got a touchdown.
Grimes continued to try and make things easier on Smith with quick throws and a flurry of quarterback runs, which weren’t there as much last weekend against the Indiana Hoosiers.
There were all sorts of trickery, including a near big explosive play to Mason on a fake end-around flea-flicker that was nearly hauled in. But, there were also timely calls, such as play-actions when Illinois guessed run, and some rollouts to get the ball out of Smith’s hands early.
As a result, Wisconsin scored its most points since Week 2, and that came by the third quarter.
Defense
Wisconsin’s defense has been the backbone of the team over the last month. They’ve had some quality performances against Oregon, Washington, Indiana, and definitely against Illinois on Saturday.
The Badgers swarmed Tommy Altmeyer in the pocket, sacking him five times after getting to Fernando Mendoza five times last week.
But, it wasn’t only that. The Badgers shut down the run game once more and made things tough at the line of scrimmage against Illinois’s offensive line.
There was one ugly drive where the defense looked out of place, which was Illinois’s lone touchdown drive. Apart from that, they constantly came up with timely plays.
When Illinois was driving on its second possession, Wisconsin capitalized on an offensive pass interference call that backed the Fighting Illini up on 3rd down. One play later, David Olano missed a 37-yard field goal.
With 2:49 left in the first half, Illinois had a big chance to take the lead. But, the Badgers got a huge stop, capped by a third-down sack from Mason Reiger that pinned the Fighting Illini deep into their own territory. An ugly punt allowed for Wisconsin to capitalize with a field goal to end the half and take a 10-7 lead into halftime.
Out of the second half, the defense allowed only one first down on Illinois’s opening drive before forcing a punt. The next drive? A three-and-out, led by a first-down sack from Peterson. Wisconsin forced a 10-play, 67-yard drive into a red zone field goal, getting a big goal-to-go stop.
Then, they capitalized on a low snap on a punt, getting a big tackle and great field position, which turned into a touchdown.
Peterson was a star, recording three sacks, three tackles for loss, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble. That doesn’t include some key pressures and plays in the run game as well. That came after he had 2.5 sacks against Indiana last week, wreaking havoc up front.
As a defense, though, Wisconsin was stellar, getting stop after stop and dominating the trenches.
Turning the page
Yes, this is a lost season at 4-7. Yes, there has definitely been disappointment at times this year with the lack of offense and constant blowouts.
But, we’re seeing the Badgers turn a page here at the end of the season with some very quality performances, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
After the big win over Washington, the Badgers delivered again with a ranked win over Illinois (No. 21 in the College Football Playoff rankings), having a more complete performance on both sides.
The young talent is starting to develop, and the players are clearly showing heart and effort to end the year. Credit to Luke Fickell and this roster for the perseverance and improvements, because this is a different-looking football team than the one that was getting blown out by Iowa during a six-game losing streak.
Now, Wisconsin has a big chance to go 5-7 and get the Axe back in Minnesota next weekend, giving Fickell another marquee win after entering the month of November with zero during his tenure with the Badgers.
There’s a lot more optimism around the Badgers here heading into the end of the season and into the offseason.
