It was an ugly win, but have you ever heard of a pretty loss?
BadgerBlitz.com has grades and game balls from Wisconsin's Week 1 victory over Western Michigan.
OFFENSE: C-
Make no mistake — you didn't see the Badgers entire offense Friday night. Not even close. But what you did see wasn't encouraging; a discombobulated amalgamation of ball control and sloppiness.
The Badgers made their game plan extremely clear from the jump. They wanted to run it down the Broncos' throat. Tawee Walker got the first four touches of the game, and the offense spent much of the night in 12 personnel. Despite a run/pass ratio of 46/36, Wisconsin finished with a very balanced offensive output: 196 rushing yards to 192 passing yards.
Still, balance didn't lead to cohesion. This isn't the most shocking thing in the world for an opener with a brand new quarterback, but that doesn't make Wisconsin's mistakes any less glaring. Tyler Van Dyke looked a little jumpy in the pocket all night, especially when the Broncos cranked up the pressure. He had several throws he was extremely lucky weren't picked off. He also had a few air mailed passes and had several miscommunications with receivers, namely Will Pauling. On the receiving end, the Badgers had at least three drops; one from Pauling, one from CJ Williams and one from Chez Mellusi.
Wisconsin's intent to establish the running game was clear, and the hard running of Walker and Mellusi carried the Badgers. Both ball-carriers ran with passion and an urge to dish out punishment. That was fun to watch. Mellusi consistently fought off the first tackle attempt, while on Walker's touchdown, he bowled over the Broncos' best defender Tate Hallock.
But while Wisconsin's tailbacks played their hearts out, the offensive line couldn't get any consistent kind of push. Van Dyke was pressured on plenty of his drop-backs, and was also sacked for a fumble that admittedly was more on the gunslinger than the offensive front. Nonetheless, you'd certainly like to see a better performance from the Badgers' big men on offense.
The biggest glaring area of concern — and stop me if you've heard this before — is the lack of big plays. Yes, Wisconsin managed to establish the run, but its longest run was a 12-yard scamper by Cade Yacamelli. Its longest completion, meanwhile, was a 17-yard pickup to Pauling. It's worth noting that Van Dyke hardly tried to air the ball out. His lone deep shot fell harmlessly incomplete. Nonetheless, there was little to no intermediate game to speak of, and not a single yard came easy for the Badgers' offense.
Ultimately, the numbers don't look awful. A balanced run/pass output, 10-for-16 on third down, 1-for1 on fourth down and 5-for-6 in the red zone while scoring on five of its eight legitimate drives. And yet, there was a tightness to this offense, a distinct lack of rhythm. Controlling the ball for long 16-play drives is all fine and dandy, but quite honestly, that's not what the faithful came to see against Western Michigan.
This offense has the pieces to put it together. It's clear as day with playmakers like Pauling, Walker, Mellusi and Trech Kekahuna, who quietly looked like Wisconsin's best receiver Friday night. But again, it shouldn't look that strenuous at home against Western Michigan.
