The Wisconsin Badgers offense has struggled to take off this season, even with a new play-caller at the helm, as the team has dealt with injuries at quarterback and along the offensive line.
When offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes was hired, it was expected that the Badgers would return to their roots as a physical, run-heavy offense. But, Wisconsin has really struggled to generate yards on the ground as its offensive line has fared poorly in run-blocking.
In the air, the Badgers had some success in
the second half of Week 2 when Danny O’Neil threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns in Wisconsin’s 42-10 win over Middle Tennessee. There’ve been some other good moments, specifically with Billy Edwards and the quick passing game. But, Wisconsin has looked completely out of sorts in the air for the most part, derailing its offense.
To create some sparks, Grimes has looked to be creative with his playcalling and play design, incorporating jet sweeps, end-arounds, and other sprinkles in both the run and pass game. Some have worked, while others have not.
How does head coach Luke Fickell feel about the offensive playcalling and where the Badgers go from here?
“Yeah, I think it’s a balance [between being creative and having a foundation], and maybe a little bit too much [creativity] is kind of what we have seen a little bit during the bye week,” Fickell said on Monday. “You want to be creative in some ways, but also find some ways to be consistent. And right now, whether it is keeping guys together, keeping guys focused, keeping guys moving forward, if you don’t have consistency in anything that you do, it gets really tough.
“Where you work some of that stuff, looking back at the plays and maybe timing of some of that stuff, [we can improve on]. But, we’re not just sitting back saying something good has to happen. You’ve got to make something good happen. I understand how we get into some of those situations. The bye week gave us a chance to do, not just, ‘hey, we’re going to do these three things.’ But, a balance of finding consistency, but also being creative enough to be consistent. When you know who your 11, 12, 13, 15 guys are and who you will be preparing with, you have a better opportunity. But, the shifting and a lot of the different things that we have played with offensively, have probably made it more difficult to A) be consistent, and B) keep some of the creativity that maybe isn’t working in the best way for us.”
That balance has certainly been hard with the injuries. The quarterback changes have especially been costly, as Billy Edwards and Danny O’Neil are two completely different players. But, Wisconsin has really lacked that consistency on offense for much of the Luke Fickell era, which stems from a lack of identity.
This season, they haven’t been able to run the ball, which has been more about the battle in the trenches than it has the running back talent. That has put more stress on the passing game, where O’Neil has looked out of place behind a makeshift offensive line.
A big issue has been the lack of explosive plays, which was also a concern under Phil Longo. When the offense can’t generate chunk plays, they need a longer string of successful plays to score, which the team hasn’t been capable of yet.
The creativity has been helpful in that aspect at times, but Wisconsin needs to be much better at executing from structure. That falls on both the players and the coaching staff.
