Wisconsin/Michigan review
For the first time in 2016, the Wisconsin Badgers tasted defeat, as the Badgers lost a defensive struggle 14-7 to No. 4 Michigan in Ann Arbor. With the score tied at 7, Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight connected with Amara Darboh for a 46-yard touchdown with a little less than eight minutes to play for the eventual game-winning score. Wisconsin could not get anything going offensively, gaining just 159 yards of total offense against the stingy Wolverines defense. For how good redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook played last week in the win at Michigan State, he looked that bad this week. But with freshmen quarterbacks, you have to take the good with the bad. Corey Clement rushed 17 times for 68 yards, but the Badgers only rushed for 71 yards as a team on 28 carries for just 2.5 yards per carry. However, despite how poorly the offense played, there were plenty of positives to take away from this game.
The biggest positive from the game was once again the defense. Michigan came in averaging 52 points per game, but Wisconsin’s defense held the Wolverines to just 14. The Badgers defense sacked Speight four times and had six tackles for loss, as well as picking off the Michigan quarterback once. That interception by Derrick Tindal was returned to to the Michigan 31, which led to the lone points of the game for Bucky. Even without star linebacker Vince Biegel, Wisconsin held Michigan to 349 yards and Jack Cichy, T.J. Watt and T.J. Edwards all recorded double-digit tackle games. The Badgers only allowed 3-of-15 third down conversions. In his first start, Garret Dooley had seven tackles with one sack and a quarterback hurry. However, even though the Badgers played great defensively, Wisconsin had its chances to make even more plays. Bucky had three separate chances for interceptions in the first half, but dropped all three with one by Lubern Figaro that could have been returned deep into Wolverines territory. Also, even though the Badgers had four sacks, Wisconsin missed a few other point blank sack attempts. Michigan was also held to just three yards per carry. Plenty of positives for the Wisconsin defense. Hopefully Biegel will be back for Ohio State in two weeks. If not, then the following week at Iowa as the Badgers start a string of games against the other teams in the Big Ten West.
There were a few other positives as well. Going into the game, one of the main players who scared me was Michigan’s do-it-all man, Jabrill Peppers. He is the best return man in college football, but only had one kick return four 14 yards and two punt returns for a total of 19 yards. With the Badgers having a freshman punter, I was afraid one of Anthony Lotti’s punts would be taken back to the house by Peppers. Wisconsin played well on special teams in what looked like a complete mismatch going into the game.
However, there were many negatives in the game as well. Hornibrook had a very poor game following his nice game in East Lansing. The freshman quarterback went 9-of-25 for 88 yards for just 3.5 yards per attempt with a touchdown and three interceptions. I know Michigan has one of the best defenses in the country, but he needed to be better. That was the difference in the game. Speight threw for 219 yards and when the Wolverines needed him to make a play, he did just that. When the Badgers needed Hornibrook to make a play, he could not get it done. His wide receivers did not do him in favors, as they dropped a number of passes. But Hornibrook did not help himself, either, as he missed a few wide open receivers. The biggest miss was a pass late in the third quarter. On the first play following a missed field goal by Michigan, Jazz Peavy had broken free from a Wolverines defensive back, who had fallen down. Peavy was wide open and Hornibrook overthrew him badly. Then, late in the game with the Badgers down seven, Hornibrook double clutched and overthrew an open Rob Wheelwright and it was picked off. When you start a freshman quarterback, it will be a mixed bag. Fortunately for him, he won’t face a defense as good as Michigan the rest of the season.
Wisconsin had opportunities to win the game, but were unable to capitalize. I mentioned the two open passes missed by Hornibrook and the missed turnovers and sacks by the defense, but Michigan missed three field goals. The Badgers were unable to take advantage of the Wolverines potential mistakes. Wisconsin will need to take advantage of these opportunities if it wants to beat a top five team, especially on the road. At least Wisconsin is creating opportunities for itself, but will need to convert on those moving forward.
Now, the Badgers have a bye before they get a visit from the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes the following week. It remains to be seen who will be back in the Wisconsin lineup, but running back Bradrick Shaw and offensive lineman Jon Dietzen will probably be back. Hopefully Biegel and cornerback Natrell Jamerson will be back as well. This will be another tough test for Bucky before playing the other teams in the division.
