The Wisconsin Badgers lost their sixth straight game and fifth straight conference game of the season last Saturday, falling 21-7 to the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks at a rainy Autzen Stadium.
Wisconsin, a 31.5-point underdog at Oregon, accumulated seven tackles for loss and held the Ducks’ offense to 335 total yards. Unfortunately, while the defense played hard, the Badger offense put on another poor showing.
But hey, the Badgers found a way to score points for the first time since their loss at Michigan!
The Badgers now have a bye week, where they must figure out their quarterback situation moving forward. More on that later.
Here are three things that stood out from Wisconsin’s 21-7 loss at Oregon.
Freshman Linebackers
Before the season, Cooper Catalano and Mason Posa were highly-regarded young linebackers. Catalano came to Madison with the Wisconsin state high school career tackling record, and Posa was a four-star high school football recruit coming out of the Albuquerque, New Mexico area.
Both linebackers showed out on Saturday at Autzen Stadium.
Posa finished the game with a team-high 13 tackles and one pass breakup. Catalano finished with eight tackles and another pass breakup. These two linebackers must see the field in the next four games.
Gideon Ituka
The Badgers needed to establish the running game to have a chance at an upset in Eugene. However, that job got infinitely more complex when Dilin Jones and Darrion Dupree were ruled out with injury, and Cade Yacamelli also got injured during the game.
Gideon Ituka made the most out of this opportunity. Ituka ran for 85 yards on 21 carries, showing good vision and toughness against a strong Oregon defense. I would not be surprised if Ituka earned another start after the bye week against Washington.
Quarterback change needed
Hunter Simmons started this game 1-for-12 for 12 yards on his pass attempts and finished the game 7-of-21 for a paltry 86 yards, one touchdown, and one brutal interception. That is nowhere close to good enough for a Big Ten starting quarterback. With four games left in the season, Simmons cannot be the starter moving forward.
After the game, Luke Fickell hinted at making a change. He should, because right now the Badgers are getting nothing at the position.
So, who should be the starting quarterback against Washington?
Unless Billy Edwards Jr. is available, I want to see true freshman Carter Smith get the nod, especially with two weeks to prepare for the game.
