Wisconsin Badgers Stock Up, Stock Down: Week 12

BadgerBlitz.com returns the weekly 'Stock Up, Stock Down' for the 2023 season. In this series, we'll offer evaluations of players on Wisconsin's roster in the context of their 'stock.' Performance, playing time and opportunity are all factored into the movement of a player's stock.

Sophomore Vinny Anthony hadn't logged more than eight snaps in a game before Northwestern came to town. Against the Wildcats, he registered 42, and made some big plays to prove he belongs on the field.

On the Badgers' very first drive of the game, Anthony lined up in the slot and ran a deep crossing route for a 35-yard gain that moved the chains. He also had several promising kick returns while filling in for Chimere Dike in that role. All in all, the receiver finished with 116 all-purpose yards.

To this point in his career, Anthony had been used exclusively as a gadget player, getting the ball on sweeps and end-arounds. Last week against Indiana, he took a counter sweep for 18 yards for a critical first down. The former track star isn't just a trick-play threat, though, as he showed on Saturday. Anthony has legit receiver skills and should continue to get more opportunities to make plays lest he gets tempted to test the waters of the transfer portal.

Freshman linebacker Christian Alliegro has come out of nowhere to get the playing time that he has. He first appeared in a high-leverage situation against Illinois on the final drive of the game with Wisconsin needing a stop. His task was to spy the quarterback, and he played four snaps while getting thrown into the fire.

The linebacker played sparingly against Indiana as well, but he made his first big impact play against Northwestern. He sacked Wildcats' quarterback Ben Bryant in the third quarter for what would be the defense's only sack on the afternoon. Alliegro only played five snaps, but proved that he can make an impact.

Again, Alliegro's involvement is somewhat of a surprise. He's nowhere to be found on the two-deep, and other true freshman on defense such as cornerback Jonas Duclona were expected to see more snaps. Still, it's a good sign for the young linebacker's development that the coaching staff trusts him in critical situations, even if only for a brief amount of time.

Alexander Smith unfortunately finds himself in the stock down portion of this article for the second week in a row. The cornerback only allowed one reception, but it was a busted coverage, 24-yard touchdown that padded Northwestern's lead. Smith has now given up three touchdowns in coverage in the past four weeks.

The pass defense as a whole has struggled in recent weeks for Wisconsin; not all of the onus falls on Smith. Still, the cornerback appears to be regressing. For someone that looked so good in fall practices in particular, it's extremely surprising how much Smith has struggled in coverage this season.

Nyzier Fourqurean didn't have a much better day on the outside. He allowed catches on all three of his targets and missed two tackles. Amongst its many issues defensively, Wisconsin needs to find a reliable outside corner to pair alongside Rico Hallman.

Nathanial Vakos had a fantastic start to the season, connecting on his first eight field goal attempts. Until Saturday, his only two misses were on tough 50-plus yarders. That changed against the Wildcats.

Not that it mattered much, but Vakos missed a 40-yarder wide, wide left. It wasn't even close, and 40 yards is well within the kicker's range. Camp Randall is a tough place to kick, and again, it didn't have much bearing on the final score. Regardless, that was an alarming miss from a kicker who looked so deadly to start the season.

Vakos has still been an upgrade at kicker for the Badgers, but his performance mirrored the rest of the team's on Saturday — shockingly lackadaisical.

Again, the entire pass defense is seeing its stock plummet after Saturday's game. Smith and Maitre's performance, though, was especially poor.

Maitre allowed two catches on three targets and dropped an easy interception in the second quarter after Maema Njongmeta brought the heat on Bryant. In the first half, Northwestern got essentially whatever it wanted in the passing game, and the secondary offered little resistance.

All in all, Maitre has been a serviceable slot corner for much of the season. The pass defense as a whole needs a lot of work, however. When the sixth-year senior moves on, Wisconsin will be scrambling to find another starting slot corner, because there's not an obvious heir apparent on the roster.

Wisconsin's pass rush has been extremely ineffective this season, and it came to a fever pitch against Northwestern. Bryant had all day to sit back in the pocket and pick apart the Badgers' secondary, which is exactly what he did.

Wisconsin got its only sack from the true freshman Alliegro. The actual pass-rushers, CJ Goetz, Darryl Peterson and Jeff Pietrowski, couldn't generate much pressure whatsoever let alone get the quarterback on the ground.

After a very solid four-sack performance against a great Ohio State offensive line, the Badgers have three sacks over the past two games. Pass rush tends to be the heartbeat of any defense. Without it, there's less turnovers and more yards given up through the air, and Wisconsin is witnessing those effects first hand.

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