Coming off a 28-14 win in their season opener last Friday, Wisconsin football stays home tomorrow to take on FCS opponent South Dakota. The Coyotes defeated Division 2 Northern State 45-3 last week. It is the final game before an epic battle next week with Alabama. Can the Badgers have a better showing tomorrow afternoon? Kick-off is 2:30 PM on FS1. Here is a preview of tomorrow’s game.
Can the Wisconsin Football Defense Get to the Quarterback?
After generating only two sacks a game on average last year, Luke Fickell went into the transfer portal and added a number of bodies for the defensive line. Last week? They only got one sack from Elijah Hills at the end of the game.
It was a unit that at times was pushed around by Western Michigan. Only two down defensive linemen is a challenge, but there really isn’t an excuse as to why they were not able to defend the run and attack the quarterback more often. If they are not able to get to South Dakota, who will rely on the run, this will be a major concern the rest of the season.
Starting Faster on Offense
The Wisconsin football offense only had eight drives last week, but still ran 82 plays. That is a very good number to have, but only 28 points to show for it. They left points on the field and had a turnover as well. For how frustrating at times the defense was, the offense may have been more frustrating.
A lot of credit should go to the Western Michigan defense. They did not takes chances, made no mistakes, and did not let the Wisconsin football offense beat them deep. At the same time, it was discouraging to see Phil Longo and the offense not even attempt a deep ball. There was no play longer than 17 yards. That can’t happen Saturday or moving forward.
Just like the defense, there isn’t a reason why the offense came out the way they did. Being 14 games into a new offensive system with a ton of returning production should not result in mediocre offensive numbers. Going into tomorrow, the offense must be more aggressive.
Prediction
The Badgers did do some good things last week despite this being an overall negative piece. South Dakota will give Wisconsin football all they can handle. The Coyotes look to be as good or maybe a better team than Western Michigan. Tomorrow should be a wake up call for the Badgers.
I’m not going to say Wisconsin football will lose tomorrow, but there has to be better production on both sides of the ball. The Coyotes are one of the best teams in the FCS and will not be intimidated coming into Camp Randall.
With the exception of more deep ball throws, I like what the Badgers did with the run-pass distribution. I still think they need to establish the run early and take the shots downfield when they are there.
The Coyotes will have a good running back duo in Travis Theis and Charles Pierre Jr. They combined for over 200 yards and three touchdowns on the ground last week. Obviously, this is a much better opponent than Northern State was, but I’m banking on this Wisconsin football teams playing with a little more sense of urgency and purpose tomorrow with Alabama on the horizon next week.
Wisconsin 31 South Dakota 14
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