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.
Wisconsin was rolling offensively, scoring on their first three drives as they won the battle in the trenches. This week, it was the run game that flourished, as the Badgers eclipsed 225 yards and 40 total carries in a strong performance against a conference opponent.
Here are the snap counts and PFF grades from Wisconsin’s
Week 5 win over Michigan State.
Quarterbacks
Colton Joseph – Snap Count: [59], Grade: 90.8
Ryan Hopkins – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 58.8
The blowout meant that Wisconsin was finally able to get Ryan Hopkins some snaps after the freshman didn’t play in the 54-10 blowout of Eastern Michigan back in Week 3.
Colton Joseph had a Colton Joseph type game: an inconsistent day with some wow plays that helped his team win the game. Joseph is still getting there in the pass game, as he was under 50 percent on completions (9/20 passing for 145 yards and 3 passing touchdowns).
The Badgers quarterback will need to be more consistent against better opponents through the air. He continued to miss some open throws, and his mechanics are still inconsistent. There were a couple of scary throws, including one that Jacob Harris reeled in for a touchdown, but Joseph also had some nice plays in the air, including a 46-yard touchdown to a wide-open Malachi Coleman to seal the deal.
However, he was special on the ground. Joseph had 13 carries for 141 yards and a score there, and this was why the Badgers got him in the transfer portal. Joseph brings a lot to this offense as a runner, and I had a feeling they were waiting to unleash him until conference play.
Joseph had a nice 47-yard run for a touchdown, and ended up with the most rushing yards for a Badgers quarterback since Tanner McEvoy in 2014. Wisconsin will need a better performance from him as a passer in a big game against UCLA in two weeks, but his ability as a runner was on display Saturday.
Running Backs
Darrion Dupree – Snap Count: [43], Grade: 58.3
Bryan Jackson II – Snap Count: [16], Grade: 54.4
Nate Palmer – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 54.6
Mason Kelley – Snap Count: [1], Grade: 60.0
Abu Sama remained out, as Darrion Dupree was the lead back for the Badgers. After a strong game against Penn State, where he totaled 96 yards from scrimmage, Dupree was the clear No. 1 on Saturday. He finished with 61 yards on 19 carries, averaging just 3.2 yards per carry. But it was that type of game.
Wisconsin had a number of long, sustained drives where short runs continued to move the chains. Dupree and Bryan Jackson, who had seven carries for 22 yards were a part of that, while Colton Joseph’s explosive ability created the big plays on the ground.
We’ll see if there’s a different split after the bye week with Sama likely healthy.
Wide Receivers
Chris Brooks Jr. – Snap Count: [41], Grade: 55.5
Eugene Hilton Jr. – Snap Count: [37], Grade: 60.3
Malachi Coleman – Snap Count: [28], Grade: 67.6
Tyrell Henry – Snap Count: [28], Grade: 63.7
Shamar Rigby – Snap Count: [9], Grade: 58.8
Kash Brock – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 60.1
Zion Kearney – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 60.1
Jackson McGohan – Snap Count: [2], Grade: 60.0
Back to being fully healthy, Malachi Coleman returned to his regular role, which decreased snaps for Tyrell Henry in the slot and Shamar Rigby as depth on the perimeter.
It wasn’t a big game from the receivers on Saturday, thanks to the strong rushing attack and Joseph’s struggles in the air. But Coleman had a beautiful double move, ghosting his defender on the 46-yard touchdown catch, which was his lone catch of the day.
The targets were much more diverse in Week 4. Tyrell Henry led the team with four, but seven pass-catchers got targets on Saturday. This is what I expect the receiver snaps to look like, though, going forward, with the Badgers having a clear top five.
Tight Ends
Ryan Schwendeman – Snap Count: [27], Grade: 72.7
Grant Stec – Snap Count: [25], Grade: 60.6
Jacob Harris – Snap Count: [23], Grade: 70.9
Emmett Bork – Snap Count: [18], Grade: 55.0
Nizyi Davis – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 69.9
With a big emphasis on the ground, Ryan Schwendeman and Grant Stec got a ton of snaps as blockers on Saturday. Even Jacob Harris ran just eight routes as the Badgers rotated their tight ends and got into jumbo packages.
But Harris had another nice pair of touchdown grabs, taking the ball from a defender for Wisconsin’s first score before a good playcall from Jeff Grimes had him wide open for the second score.
Emmett Bork had the other catch of Wisconsin’s tight ends. Wisconsin has a core group of four tight ends with varying skillsets, and the snaps could look like this in games where they’re more run-dominant.
Offensive Line
Stylz Blackmon – Snap Count: [59], Grade: 59.7
Kevin Heywood – Snap Count: [59], Grade: 68.4
Colin Cubberly – Snap Count: [59], Grade: 73.8
Emerson Mandell – Snap Count: [33], Grade: 67.0
Austin Kawecki – Snap Count: [33], Grade: 48.7
Ryan Cory – Snap Count: [29], Grade: 68.1
PJ Wilkins – Snap Count: [26], Grade: 72.1
Blake Cherry – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 59.6
Peyton Lange – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 64.6
Lucas Simmons-Johansson – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 60.0
Barrett Nelson – Snap Count: [3], Grade: 72.4
Wisconsin made a change on the offensive line, moving Kevin Heywood to left tackle, while starting Stylz Blackmon at right guard and Emerson Mandell at right tackle. That moved PJ Wilkins to the bench, although the Badgers rotated Wilkins and Mandell at right tackle.
Additionally, Austin Kawecki got hurt midway through the game, so Ryan Cory took over at center and played quite a good game in relief.
Wisconsin’s offensive line was quite good in pass protection with the changes. The Spartans got just five pressures, and Joseph had a time to throw of 2.84 seconds, a very solid number. No offensive lineman gave up more than one pressure and Joseph wasn’t sacked in the win.
Mandell continues to be working back from his injury, and was in a timeshare for the third straight week. We’ll see if that continues after the bye week, which will give him more time to recover, as PJ Wilkins had struggled for a few weeks before looking solid in Week 5.
