The Wisconsin Badgers won their first game of the season on Friday night, defeating the Western Michigan Broncos 28-14 in the opener at Camp Randall Stadium to improve to 1-0 on the year.
While the Badgers were projected to win by 24 points, this one was anything but pretty, as Wisconsin even trailed 14-13 early in the fourth quarter, but the team ultimately rallied back with two touchdown drives to seal a double-digit victory.
However, with the way the game went, there begs the question: Were there more positives or concerns coming out of Week 1?
Here are three quick takeaways from the Badgers 28-14 win over Western Michigan.
Lack of explosives
The Badgers really struggled to create explosive plays on Friday, despite facing a Western Michigan defense that ranked 89th in the country in 2023, allowing over 400 yards per game.
Wisconsin had a whopping zero passing plays of over 20 yards, as well as no run plays over 15 yards, with quarterback Tyler Van Dyke averaging just 5.3 yards per pass attempt.
Last season, the lack of explosives was a recurring issue for Wisconsin’s offense, as they failed to push the ball downfield, despite incorporating offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s “Air Raid” system.
While the offense looked better during the fall when the Badgers operated with more hurry-up actions, Wisconsin looked similar to their inconsistent 2023 offense for much of the evening, leading to a much closer-than-expected contest against Western Michigan.
If Wisconsin is going to compete in the new-look Big Ten, they’re going to have to find a way to create more explosive plays, especially through the air. Otherwise, teams will hone in on their run game and dare the offense to throw the ball downfield, which could be a concern as the season continues.
Van Dyke has the arm talent to complete those plays and there were several chances where receivers looked open downfield, but both sides of the equation have to get on the same page if Wisconsin is to create a consistent downfield attack in 2024.
A more surprising feat was the lack of explosives in the run game, as the Badgers averaged 4.6 per carry, but didn’t get any 15+ yard rushes on Friday. Against tougher defenses, Wisconsin will face much bigger challenges in the run game, only putting a bigger emphasis on the passing game.
The offensive line and running backs need to be in better cohesion, as it didn’t appear that the holes in the run game were really there to exploit. We’ll see how that improves going forward.
Red Zone struggles
The lack of efficiency in the red zone was a big concern for the Badgers in 2023, as they couldn’t get enough touchdowns working out of the shotgun when they drove deep into opponent territory.
Well, those struggles carried over to Week 1, as Wisconsin scored a touchdown on just one of their first four drives, despite making it into the red zone on each of those chances.
Dealing with 16, 16, 14, and 14-play drives on their first four chances, Wisconsin went for three field goals and one touchdown, with kicker Nathanial Vakos missing one of the field goal attempts from 36 yards.
The Badgers kept a similar approach to last year with their shotgun-heavy approach in the red zone, and faced similar results, which isn’t a great sign against Western Michigan.
Wisconsin did score touchdowns on their final two red zone drives, bringing their touchdown percentage to 50 percent on the day, and those drives were the differerence makers in the game, as the Badgers went from down 14-13 to up 28-14 in the fourth quarter.
On the other side, the Badgers defense gave up two red zone touchdowns in two opportunities to Western Michigan, with the early run defense issues being the main takeaway on those possessions.
However, Wisconsin’s defense did limit Western Michigan outside of that, forcing a missed field goal attempt from the Wisconsin 31-yard line and a turnover of downs near midfield.
Run Game
With both passing attacks struggling for parts of the game, the run game was the story on both sides of this contest.
Wisconsin gave a significant workload to top backs Tawee Walker, who was the starter, and Chez Mellusi, with the former going for 66 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, while the latter ran for 74 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
While both didn’t have many explosive plays (Mellusi had the longest with an 11-yard rush), the duo looked to move the chains by slowly churning yards, although there were a number of short gains as well.
Still, Wisconsin clearly felt most confident with their run game in Week 1, as they ran for 196 yards on 46 carries, although some did come near the end of the game.
That seems to be their forte, and they’ll need their two top running backs to shine if this will be their style going forward.
On the other hand, Wisconsin’s defensive line faced some issues against Western Michigan’s rushing attack and specifically top back Jalen Buckley.
Buckley, who rotated in with a plethora of backs, rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns on the day. He had to fight for a good portion of his yards, as the Badgers sold out against the run without a consistent passing attack from the Broncos.
But, there were definitely times where the Badgers defensive line had their issues holding up at the line of scrimmage, which will be something to watch going forward.
Nonetheless, the Badgers picked up a 28-14 victory in Week 1 over the Western Michigan Broncos and will now set their sights on South Dakota in Week 2 next Saturday!
