MADISON — The Wisconsin Badgers played their third game of the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon, losing to the Alabama Crimson Tide, 42-10.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from Wisconsin’s loss.

When going against a team as good as Alabama, there are two paths to victory — take shots and live with the consequences, or be conservative but make no mistakes.

The Badgers made plenty of mistakes, but were still petrified of taking risks, leading to a stagnant display of offense and decision-making.

Cracks began to emerge right after the first crucial mistake of the day, in which Chez Mellusi fumbled when the Badgers only trailed 7-3. The Crimson Tide quickly scored afterwards on a Jalen Milroe keeper, cushioning the lead to 14-3.

But when the Badgers were driving at the end of the first half and decided to (unsuccessfully) attempt a field goal with 33 seconds left, that’s when the game tilted, and it never tilted back.

The Tide quickly punished the Badgers for their conservatism, only needing two plays to score a touchdown. The Badgers then found themselves down 21-3 going into halftime. Fans could’ve left at this point.

The Badgers were so petrified of not scoring that they shot themselves in the foot, leading to a greater disparity.

“[We were] playing probably the way that you would wanna play and, probably, in the situation you really want to be in with about 35, 40 seconds to go in the half. Those last 40 seconds, unfortunately, completely turned a lot of things around,” Luke Fickell said after the game.

When asked what he would’ve done differently, his answer was simple.

“I would’ve scored a touchdown.”

A few individual decisions were detrimental enough, but the conservatism spread throughout the team like a fire. The offense played the first half as if they were up by multiple possessions rather than down. The runs were predictable and boring, and when they passed it, the ball rarely traveled over 10 yards.

Offensive coordinator Phil Longo didn’t even seem interested in taking advantage of Alabama’s man coverage in any substantial way. Will Pauling finished with a fine stat-line of nine catches, 83 yards and a touchdown, but his talent was still underutilized.

After halftime, when the disparity was so wide that they had no choice but to take shots, it was as if the offense never practiced some of those plays. Braedyn Locke missed Trech Kekahuna on what should’ve been the easiest touchdown of both of their lives.

There’s a line to walk between safe and scared, and when playing a team as good as Alabama, the line gets thin.

Even with Alabama in somewhat of a transition year, their players still looked like they came from a different planet, especially when facing a Wisconsin team that refused to capitalize on their athleticism.

Headlining the team, Milroe was as dangerous as advertised. The Badgers had no answer for him in the air or on the ground, as he waltzed his way to 271 total yards and five total touchdowns.

After struggling against Cam Ward in Week 2 of last season, they still haven’t yet learned how to deal with mobile quarterbacks.

“They [were] willing to run him maybe a little bit more than I would’ve expected, but that’s something that’s a great equalizer for him. He throws a great deep ball,” Fickell said.

The Tide’s 17-second touchdown drive at the end of the first half was the best representation of the disparity in athleticism.

The 17-year-old Ryan Williams used his other-worldly speed and found himself wide open down the sideline, leading to an easy 47-yard catch. The very next play, Germie Bernard got past Ricardo Hallman with a quick cut towards the sideline in the end zone, touchdown.

Hallman is one of the best and most athletic players that Wisconsin has had in years, and was made to look like a freshman.

They knew how dangerous the weapons were, but what was truly inexcusable was how the Badgers ignored their own best athletes.

The play-calling was immensely lacking in creativity. Pauling and Kekahuna are some of the most athletic receivers in the Big Ten, but were used as if Longo didn’t know who they were. Bryson Green is the team’s best deep threat yet wasn’t given enough opportunities to make plays. When they ran it, the runs were stagnant and didn’t really give their backs an opportunity to make a play.

Games like this show the massive talent disparity between a developing program that’s still a ways away from assembling a real team, and Alabama.

Before the Badgers could develop any rhythm or consistency on offense, Tyler Van Dyke suffered an apparent knee injury and was sidelined for the rest of the game, leaving Locke to step up in his place.

Given the quality of opponent, it’s difficult to properly assess Locke’s performance. That Alabama defense contained many of the best players the Badgers will see all year.

But Locke ultimately didn’t do much to give fans hope for the remaining games he must play in Van Dyke’s absence.

He finished with an underwhelming statline, going 13-for-26 for 125 passing yards and one touchdown. There also weren’t many memorable throws, except for maybe the one he missed to Kekahuna.

Granted, there’s no assurance that Van Dyke would’ve played much better. He didn’t inspire much awe in either of his first two outings.

Locke’s struggles were partially due to his limitations, especially when facing a better team, but they also shed light on the fact that the offense doesn’t have much of an identity.

When Fickell and the players were asked about the offense’s identity, they referenced the run game. Except the Badgers rarely run with any sense of creativity or energy. Without a bell-cow back like Braelon Allen who’ll succeed no matter the play call, they look limited, to say the least.

In the passing game, any sort of creativity is reserved for the first 10 yards within the line of scrimmage. They have a few talented receivers, but don’t care to utilize their talent.

The Badgers have a lot of soul-searching to do over the bye week, and to quote the coaching adage, they’ll need to take a look in the mirror.

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