Wisconsin Badgers got off to a sluggish start against Northwestern on Saturday morning. They were trailing at the half, 10-7 after an ugly first quarter where the Wildcats looked like the better team on each side of the ball. As we see in sports, halftime can be a great resource for teams to hit the reset. Wisconsin did just that and went to take care of business in the second half by beating the Wildcats, 33-24 and scoring their first Big Ten win of the season.

Badgers defense makes big plays to preserve the victory – Wisconsin’s vaunted defense did give up 24 points to Northwestern. Usually, they would not be getting the top praise from the game, but when you have a pick-six plus a walkoff safety, those things outweigh the points allowed. Natrell Jamerson had the play of the afternoon with his pick-six that put Wisconsin up 31-10 at the time. If not for Jamerson, we may have been looking at a tight game. Also, where did D’Cota Dixon come from for that safety. What a stick. Great play by him.

Wisconsin has to take care better care of the ball.
Badgers had three turnovers in Saturday’s game with Alex Hornibrook throwing two interceptions and Jazz Peavy losing a fumble. That’s not a good thing for this football team. They are a ball control offense who does not usually have many turnovers. Hornibrook runs so hot and cold at different points of the game that it’s not surprising to see him make a mistake or two with his arm. That said, Wisconsin needs to be improved in this category.

Quintez Cephus continues to be a home run threat
One of the things that Wisconsin football lacked over the last few years has been big play wide receivers. It appears this year is different with the emerging freshman Danny Davis as well as the big home run hitter in Quintez Cephus. He had his longest reception of the year with a 61-yard grab in this one. Paul Chryst deserves some credit for the play call with the team trailing at the time in the second half as this set up their first second half score.

Next up
Wisconsin heads to Nebraska for an under-the-lights affair with the Cornhuskers. Nebraska won their first two Big Ten games, but they had some struggles in the non-conference especially with quarterback Tanner Lee who had multiple pick-six’s already this season. Not a good sign versus an opportunistic defense.

Charlie.