Wisconsin Badgers came back from COVID-19 to play Michigan on Saturday evening. Badgers were off for two weeks because of COVID-19. No one really knew how they would respond. Vegas and the bettors felt very confident in Wisconsin. The line kept moving towards Wisconsin’s favor which moved to -6.5 from a pick’em at the start of the week. Usually, when that happens, things swing the other way. In this case, things stayed that way. Wisconsin pounded the ball down the throat of Michigan for over 340 yards. They won 49-11 in an impressive victory

Players of the Game: Badgers’ running attack – Wisconsin found a way to run the football yet again. That’s a huge development for the future of their season. Garrett Groshek was sidelined due to COVID-19, and he might have got Wally Pipp’d by a fun combination of guys. Three Badgers backs – Jalen Berger, John Chenal, Nakia Watson, and one wide receiver – Danny Davis rushed for 65 plus yards. Wisconsin sliced Michigan all over the field. They were running off tackle like no one’s business. Berger has a chance to be a real star for this team. 87 yards on 15 carries was impressive.

Honorable Mention: Leo Chenal – John’s brother had himself a game too. Leo had a great game from the inside linebacker position. He had three tackles, one sack, one Tackle For Loss, and an interception. That’s an impressive stat line for the middle linebacker. Wisconsin has a long line of good middle linebackers, and it’s possible that Chenal might be the next one.

One Thing to Like: Mertz did just enough to keep the confidence alive – Graham Mertz was back from COVID-19 after not being able to practice for multiple weeks. Mertz was not exactly great but did just enough to be competent. He went 12/22 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. This is directly out of the game manager’s playbook for Wisconsin’s quarterbacks.

One Thing to Dislike: Badgers didn’t get 50 – Yes, Wisconsin should have definitely tried to put a 50-burger on Michigan. To Michigan’s defense, they did stiffen up in the second half a little bit. And putting Cade McNamara in gave them a little life. Still, 56-11 would have been even wilder.

Next up: Wisconsin heads down to Illinois to take on Northwestern. This is not an easy place to play for Wisconsin. They’ve struggled there in the past. But this is not the recipe for a letdown in my opinion. When Wisconsin loses at Northwestern, it is an 11 AM game with a bad Northwestern team coming off a big win. There is only one part of the recipe.

Charlie.