Wisconsin's chances of honoring Barry Alvarez with a win on Saturday fell hard in the second half, ultimately falling to No. 14 Michigan 38-17 inside Camp Randall Stadium.

BadgerBlitz.com provides grades and game balls from the defeat, which leaves UW (1-3 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) looking for answers with the conference grind kicking up further.

Wisconsin kicked off the game with four straight 3-and-out series, with the longest gain going for three yards in that span. Woof.

However, its last two drives before halftime showed promise and energized the Camp Randall faithful with the team putting up 141 yards and 10 points on the scoreboard.

UW could not recover after the injury to its QB1, however.

Before exiting due to injury early in the third quarter, quarterback Graham Mertz started to put it together. He finished the game 8-of-15 for 115 yards and a touchdown, but a rhythm developed in those final two series of the second quarter. Give him time, and he can pick apart the defense.

That being said, Wisconsin also allowed six sacks on the day, and Pro Football Focus (PFF) currently credits the team with 18 pressures allowed against Michigan. Look at BadgerBlitz.com's "From the Box" column from Sunday, and that has been an issue for Joe Rudolph's line and the offense as a whole through four games.

The rushing attack did not help, as it floundered for the second straight week to the tune of 43 yards on 28 carries. Third-down conversions continued to falter in moving the chains (3-of-14 in those opportunities).

Overall, UW gained a mere 210 yards on the afternoon and showcased a microcosm of its issues seen throughout the season.

It's hard to assign this grade in a sense. Wisconsin allowed 365 yards on 4.9 yards per play, which is still good enough to win the game. It halted Michigan's rushing attack to 112 yards on 2.5 yards per carry, and overall held the Wolverines to 6-of-19 on third downs.

During the game, it also dealt with sudden change opportunities or other miscues from other phases of the game (see Jack Van Dyke's kickoff that squibbled out of bounds for an example of the latter).

That being said, it was not a perfect performance for the defense on Saturday. It did not register a sack and just two tackles for loss. It allowed 4-of-5 fourth down opportunities to move the chains, all of which were two yards or less to move the chains. Michigan's passing game hit on three passes of 34 or more yards, including two for touchdowns, all on way to 253 yards and a trio of aerial scores.

Andy Vujnovich averaged nearly 45 yards per punt on Saturday, with three of his eight attempts being downed inside the 20. Collin Larsh connected on his one 34-yard field goal attempt. Those were the bright spots in an otherwise rough day.

Two mistakes in Chris Haering's units led to six Michigan points in the first half. A Wolverines punt hit true freshman safety Hunter Wohler near the goal line in the second quarter, and linebacker Joey Velazquez recovered it at the UW 5. That led to a Jake Moody 26-yard field goal to make it a two-score advantage.

Then after Wisconsin got on the scoreboard with Larsh's field goal to make it 10-3 in the second quarter, Van Dyke's errant kickoff went out of bounds before the end zone. That allowed Michigan to play with a shortened field, capitalizing with another drive that led to a Moody field goal.

An onside-like kick almost spelled disaster for Wisconsin after that last Moody boot, which was luckily recovered by the Badgers. The return game was non-existent for UW as well.

The Wolverines' standout member of the secondary flew all around the field. He finished the day with six tackles, one interception, one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry. Officials credited him with the half-sack that eventually knocked quarterback Graham Mertz out of the game.

Hutchinson was credited with just three tackles, a half a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hurry during Saturday's game, but his presence behind and around the line of scrimmage became a huge factor in shutting down Wisconsin's offense. PFF currently grades him as the highest-rated Wolverine on defense (90.2) as of Sunday morning.

PFF reported 21 snaps against Notre Dame for Dike last weekend. Against Michigan, the Waukesha (WI) North product doubled that, according to initial numbers by the service.

Dike's two catches for 54 yards late in the second quarter sparked brief energy and Wisconsin's lone touchdown in non-garbage time. UW's top three receiving corp of Dike, Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor present threats for opposing secondaries. Can the Badgers get them the ball more somehow?

The starting duo of inside linebackers combined for 25 tackles yesterday (13 for Sanborn, 12 for Chenal). Each accumulated six solo stops.

PFF currently grades Chenal at 80.7, Sanborn at 71.5 for their performances in the middle of the defense against the Wolverines.