When Wisconsin hired offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes this offseason, there was both a hint of surprise and a sigh of relief for fans, as the Badgers were expected to get back into their roots as a powerful, run-heavy offense.
Through six weeks, however, Wisconsin has done anything but that offensively, largely struggling on the ground, as they’ve averaged just 3.1 yards per carry. Their rushing offense ranks 108th in the country, and their yards per carry figure ranks 125th. That’s far below expectations.
The Badgers have struggled to score, which was an issue under Phil Longo as well, putting up 14 points or less in three consecutive losses, while ranking 107th in the country in scoring.
What’s wrong with the Badgers offense?
“We put ourselves in some tough positions, I think, early in the year, where you almost try too hard to create a big play,” head coach Luke Fickell said on Monday. “Or, some fancy shift up front or some different look up front, and I mean offensively, in some ways, to say, ‘hey, let’s hit a revert like there’s a balance.’
“What it is we’ve got to make sure, we’ve got to find a way to get our backs to second level and give them the greatest opportunities to make some of those plays. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to stretch the field at some point in time. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to connect down, down the field, but sometimes you start stretching for those things, and it actually works against you. So I think that you know us as coaches, got to have a balance, and it’s the same thing defensively.
“We’ve been decently sound in a lot of the things that we’ve done, but we also haven’t created a lot of big plays. We haven’t created a lot of the turnovers. The ball was on the ground three times this past week, which is good, but all three of them, they recovered, whether they made a great bounce or got it right back. It is what it is, right? You got to find a way to change that, and a lot of that has to do with effort, populating to the football, as opposed to just thinking there’s some special blitz or there’s some special play. It’s about, ‘hey, [we] got to have some balance. We got to find a way to get ourselves to second [levels].’ I’ve got to find a way to put our guys in a position that they do have to make some plays. There’s probably a couple shots at coming down with the ball defensively last week that could have been differences in the momentum of a game. Some of them were early, but a difference in the momentum of the game that we’ve got to be able to execute with.”
As I’ve mentioned a few times this week, a key issue was the play-calling on first downs. Wisconsin was extremely predictable in trying to set up its run game, running the ball on seven of 10 first downs after the opening drive. They got less than two yards per carry on those runs. On the three passes? Wisconsin had two completions for 23 yards.
For some reason, the Badgers haven’t realized they can’t just run it down other teams’ throats. That speaks both to the players and the coaching style from a development standpoint. Wisconsin hasn’t had great run-blocking in any season under Luke Fickell, as pass-blocking has generally been better. This year, both have been worse.
In the past, the Badgers have been able to run the ball no matter what look they saw defensively. That’s not the case with this staff and this group of players. So, they need to be able to test defenses by setting up the run with the passing game.
That doesn’t mean deep shot after deep shot. That means a willingness to test things and throw on early downs to get positive plays and keep the playbook open on later downs with easier distances to convert. Wisconsin’s quick passing game has worked when they’ve gone to it. They can also win 1-on-1 opportunities with wideouts like Vinny Anthony. They need to start relying on those things more.
