The Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Buffalo Bulls 38-17 on Saturday in their opening game of the 2023 season. The game was close at half-time, with Wisconsin holding onto a 14-10 lead at the break. However, the running game exploded in the second half and the Badgers held the Bulls to just one second half score.
Most notably, the Wisconsin defense was able to consistently get off the field after third downs, holding Buffalo to just two first downs on fifteen third-down plays. Additionally, the Bulls converted just one of four fourth down plays. However, the Badgers were unable to generate any sacks on 41 passing plays and did not force any turnovers other than the ones on downs.
Related: Wisconsin Badgers- Highest and Lowest 5 PFF Grades on Offense
In short, there was a lot to like about the new Wisconsin defense under new defensive coordinator Mike Tressel, but there were also a lot of things that need polishing. That being said, what else is to be expected from the first game of the season in a new regime?
The Wisconsin Badgers’ Highest 5 PFF Grades on Defense
As mentioned, there was a lot to like about the Wisconsin defense on Saturday, but there is also a great deal of room for improvement. This is also evident in the fact that PFF gave just five Badgers defenders an overall defensive grade over 70:
- Darryl Peterson (OLB)- 81.5
- Gio Paez (DE)- 78.0
- Jordan Turner (ILB)- 75.3
- Ricardo Hallman (CB)- 71.1
- James Thompson Jr. (DE)- 70.1
In defense of the Wisconsin defense, this is a unit that saw its two most impactful players, Keanu Benton and Nick Herbig, depart for the NFL after the 2022 season (ironically, both ended up joining former Badger TJ Watt on the Pittsburgh Steelers).
It is going to take a few weeks to see which players emerge as the new high-impact players, but these five players all put together good games on Saturday. Peterson, in particular, had four quarterback hurries and five total tackles.
Paez added two quarterback pressures, as did Turner who also added a hit on the quarterback. Thompson added three quarterback pressures as well. So, between the four, they combined for 11 pressures. If they continue to be able to apply that kind of pressure, and convert some of them into sacks, this defense can be scary.
As for Hallman, he played excellent coverage and gave up just one catch for nine yards while being targeted just twice.
The Wisconsin Badgers’ Lowest 5 PFF Grades on Defense
Whereas the top five PFF grades were populated with linebackers and linemen, the bottom five is going to see a high number of defensive backs. This is a position group that Wisconsin knew it would to develop as it was not one with many impactful players to begin with:
- Kamo’i Latu (S)- 46.7
- Maema Njongmeta (LB)- 60.6
- Jason Maitre (CB)- 61.1
- Hunter Wohler (S)- 61.3
- Rodas Johnson (DE)- 62.2
For the sake of transparency, defensive end Cade McDonald had a PFF grade of 58.9 and safety Preston Zachman had one of 60.4. However, McDonald played just five snaps and Zachman played just one. Their play was not highly impactful on the game.
The problem that many of these players had was finishing tackles. Between them, they had eight missed tackles, and five of them came from Latu.
Between Latu, Maitre, and Wohler, they allowed 12 of 15 passes to be completed, and Maitre was the only one who forced any incompletions.
As mentioned, there was a lot to like about the Badgers defense, but missed tackles were a problem. Including the eight from the lowest graded players, Wisconsin missed 10 tackles.
It’s early, and the problems are fixable; but they should be fixed by the time Big Ten play comes along if they want to be able to compete with the top teams.
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