The Wisconsin Badgers closed out their 2018 season with a blowout win over Miami on Dec. 27, handing the Hurricanes a 35-3 loss in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Now BadgerBlitz.com will take a look back at the season that was, breaking down the bright spots and low points at each position, with an eye on the future as well.

Wisconsin's defensive line saved their best overall performance for last in the 2018 season. The Miami Hurricanes finished with 121 rushing yards on 23 carries in the game, but most of those came on two quarterback scrambles. On the whole the Badgers did what they needed to do to derail Miami's offense: keep them in check on first and second down before turning up the pressure on third downs. Pro Football Focus gave several UW defensive linemen their best grades of the season in the Pinstripe Bowl: Bryson Williams earned a 68.5, Matt Henningsen earned a 67.1, and Isaiahh Loudermilk earned a 77.5. For a group that was struggling in the mid 50s for most of the season that was a solid uptick.

It was hard to tell for sure at the time, but Wisconsin's loss to BYU on Sept. 15 was definitely a warning sign that the Badgers had several issues to work through on both sides of the ball. But their run defense was particularly disappointing against the Cougars, who racked up 191 yards on 28 carries, with running back Squally Canada rushing for 118 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries. Controlling the line of scrimmage was a key feature of the UW defense in years past, and the Badgers weren't able to do that in their rematch with BYU.

-- Wisconsin's new-look defensive line had more downs than ups in 2018, but they did their part and had one of their best games of the season on Nov. 3 against Rutgers when the Badgers held the Scarlet Knights to just 72 rushing yards in the game and held running back Raheem Blackshear to just 38 total yards on 10 carries. Nose tackle Bryson Williams held down the fort in the middle and earned a solid 67.9 grade in run defense from Pro Football Focus - a solid start to his career as Wisconsin's man in the middle.

The Badgers are hoping to get Garrett Rand back on the field this spring after he sat out the 2018 season with an achilles injury, so if he can practice at all that would be a good sign for a position group that will still need as many impact players as possible. There's playing time to be had here - Bryson Williams seems like the lock to start at nose tackle now, but the Badgers are probably hoping to see more steps forward from Henningsen after his first year as a starter. It would do the Badgers a lot of good if someone like Aaron Vopal or Isaiah Mullens could prove they were worthy of first or second team reps this spring as well. Isaiahh Loudermilk and Rand both have injury histories to keep in mind, so this is a group that will need to identify another one or two players who can help in games in order for the defensive line as a whole to take a step forward in 2019.

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.