MADISON, WIS. — Alabama had goals of silencing the notoriously hostile Camp Randall Stadium environment throughout the week and the Crimson Tide prevailed with a resounding 42-10 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday.

Last week, The Crimson Tide beat South Florida 42-16 at home. The final score didn’t reflect the quality of the game though as Alabama only held a one-point lead at 14-13 heading into the fourth quarter. The Tide then went on to score 21 unanswered points over the final six minutes.

However, Alabama’s fourth-quarter momentum against South Florida clearly continued on Saturday on the Badgers’ turf from practically start to finish. This dominant road victory, the first one in the Kalen DeBoer era, had plenty of things to dissect from it. Here are five takeaways:

Simply put Alabama’s 52.5 points per game over the first two contests of the season were extremely impressive and quarterback Jalen Milroe is perhaps the biggest reason why as he has struggled to NOT reach the endzone.

This continued on Saturday against Wisconsin as the true dual threat recorded 14 carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns, while also completing 12-of-17 attempts for 196 yards and three touchdowns.

Milroe’s scoring numbers put him in elite company as the following quarterbacks have had three consecutive games of two-plus passing and two-plus rushing touchdowns since 2008: Florida’s Tim Tebow (2008), Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick (2010), Northern Illinois’ Jordan Lynch (2012), Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel (2012) and Milroe (Saturday).

After being benched prior to the third game of last season against South Florida, Milroe earned back the starting role the next week against then-No. 15 Ole Miss and had a stellar outing. This flipped a switch and the Tide won every game for the rest of the regular season, and its SEC Championship victory over No. 1 Georgia gave Alabama a spot in the four-team CFP. After three games into this season, it appears Milroe’s momentum toward the end of last year is still very much intact.

Despite the dominant victories in the first two games, Alabama’s negative-2 turnover margin ranked 104th out of 134 FBS teams. In fact, Michigan transfer defensive back Keon Sabb’s two interceptions in the season opener against Western Kentucky were the Tide’s only takeaways coming into Saturday.

But Alabama won that battle against Wisconsin due to their hard-hitting ability at all three levels of the defense. Linebacker Deontae Lawson, defensive back Malachi Moore, defensive lineman LT Overton and linebacker Que Robinson each forced a fumble and two of them were recovered by the Tide within Wisconsin’s 30-yard line.

While Alabama didn’t haul in any interceptions on Saturday, the Crimson Tide still interrupted the passing lanes throughout the afternoon. Wisconsin starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke suffered an injury in the first quarter and backup Braedyn Locke filled his role for the rest of the game. Locke went 13-of-26 for 125 yards and Alabama recorded a very respectable seven pass breakups.

“Those two strips could have been really big for us,” DeBoer said during the postgame press conference. “Getting one early, just getting that momentum, it just becomes contagious. And I love it. The guys have a lot of confidence. We almost had, I think, an interception there with Keon early, too. So those guys are playing aggressive, playing competent, and they’re going to come into bunches, and I feel like we’re just the tip of the iceberg taking the ball away.”

Winning the turnover battle will be crucial once SEC competition begins, starting with the highly anticipated home matchup against No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs on Sept. 28. If Alabama doesn’t come out victorious in this category for that upcoming evening, the final score at Saban Field in Bryant-Denny Stadium may not favor the Crimson Tide.

There was a ton of hype around former Texas A&M defensive lineman LT Overton, as the former five-star recruit transferred to Alabama this past December. He was considered the No. 3 player in the state of Georgia and the No. 4 defensive lineman in the class. Overton was the fifth-highest-ranked recruit in the infamous class that sparked a war of words between former Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher and former Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.

Overton played in 23 games across two seasons for the Aggies and tallied 48 tackles. The defensive lineman has a built-in connection to Tuscaloosa as his father, Milton Overton, served as associate athletic director at The Capstone from 2009-15. 

Overton was kept relatively quiet in the trenches during the Tide’s first two games, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday. In the first half alone against the Badgers, Overton logged six tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and one forced fumble. His stats remained the same for the rest of the game but did add to Alabama’s plethora of pass breakups in the second half.

“You expect that from him,” DeBoer said of Overton’s performance. “He’s just going to be continually coming after you, you know, and it’s not just against one or the other, runner or pass, it’s both. He’s just a physical presence in there. Love the way he plays. It’s a business-like approach that he has, whether it’s in practice or games. I just got a lot of trust and confidence that he’s going to bring his best. And he fits so well within our scheme. I know we’re very confident, whatever it is, if he’s got something we’re asking to do, that he’s getting it done — making sure he takes care of his responsibility and then goes and eats and goes and makes plays.”

After his performance against Wisconsin, the competitive BANDIT position could be his to lose for the next couple of games, as months of excitement surrounding his name and status seemed to start to pay off on Saturday afternoon.

Before transferring to Alabama from Miami (OH) on April 21, kicker Graham Nicholson won the 2023 Lou Groza Award after making 27 of his 28 field goal attempts and converting on 35 of 37 extra point attempts. He came to Tuscaloosa to replace NCAA all-time scoring leader Will Reichard and was listed as an AP Preseason All-American First Team member.

Alabama’s explosive offense through the first two games didn’t require a field goal attempt, as the Tide very rarely reached fourth-down while over midfield. While this a good problem to have, like the turnover battle, once SEC competition occurs, field goal attempts will be an absolute certainty.

The first field goal opportunity of the season for Alabama came on Saturday, as Nicholson was ready to display his first impression to Crimson Tide fans. But the reigning “top college football placekicker” missed 46 yards out midway through the first quarter.

Of course, Nicholson shouldn’t be judged for one kick, but as previously stated, the Tide will need him multiple times per game for a large portion of the rest of the regular season. Hopefully he’ll shake this off before then and prove why he won the esteemed annual award not so long ago. To end this takeaway on a high note, Nicholson went 6-for-6 on extra point attempts and is 13-of-13 in that department through the first three games.

Hands down the biggest question coming into Saturday revolved around Alabama’s offensive line. Last week against South Florida, the Crimson Tide entered the fourth quarter with just a 14-13 lead. Offensive line penalties were harming Alabama all night as the starting front five finished the game with nine penalties, two of which wiped out touchdowns. Milroe was also constantly pressured throughout the first three quarters, making it very difficult to move the ball downfield.

A major reason for their struggles was due to the absence of left tackle Kadyn Proctor, who was a late scratch minutes before the season opener against Western Kentucky due to a shoulder injury. Multiple players on the line had to be moved around against South Florida, but the Freshman All-American’s return against Wisconsin made all the difference.

Milroe’s big day on both the air—when finding wide receivers Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard and tight end Josh Cuevas—and the ground were largely due to the extra time in the pocket given by the offensive line. The same goes for running back Jam Miller, who rushed for 71 yards on just nine carries, including a 34-yard touchdown built by a perfect shift by the front five.

“I thought they just did a consistent job of making sure Jalen could stay upright, wasn’t rushed, hurried,” DeBoer said. “It’s amazing how your play calls can just be so much easier when you’re in down and distances that are much more favorable when you can protect your quarterback and make every throw you could where there’s not throwaways where you’re getting hit. And I thought there was just good gelling considering it was really their first game action altogether.”

The sack and penalty numbers also decreased against Wisconsin as Alabama had two false starts and two sacks allowed. That said, the first sack was on a scramble by Milroe, which resulted in a one-yard loss, and the second sack put backup quarterback Ty Simpson on the ground with under three minutes left in regulation, as the game was already decided at that point.

MADISON, Wis. — Cautious optimism spread among Wisconsin’s football players in the week leading up to a massive home showdown against No. 4 Alabama. It was a game, some players said, they had circled for years — not months — because of the incredible opportunity it would provide to showcase the program’s worthiness on a national stage following four straight disappointing seasons.

What went unsaid is that it also was a game that provided an opportunity to be incredibly exposed.

That’s what happened during Alabama’s 42-10 romp of Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, in which Badgers starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was knocked out of the game with a right knee injury on the first series. It marked Wisconsin’s worst home defeat in 16 years, a 41-point loss to Penn State in 2008.

One side possessed multiple playmakers and executed at a high level. The other side didn’t. And for a Wisconsin program still trying to move the meter in Luke Fickell’s second season, this was not the way to do it.

“I’ll give you guys the same message I just gave them: If you haven’t had your ass whooped before, you just did,” Fickell said. “They beat us in every phase of the game today.”

Few people outside the program believed Wisconsin would win, which is why the Badgers were two-touchdown underdogs. But this team wasn’t even close, particularly after Alabama struck in two plays late in the second quarter off a missed Wisconsin field goal to take a 21-3 halftime lead. Maybe a healthy Van Dyke would have helped stem the Crimson Tide a little while longer. However, there were simply too many mental and physical errors across the board against a superior foe to think Wisconsin would have pulled off a miracle.

I don’t think running back Jam Miller had enough open space on that 34-yard touchdown run. Crimson Tide absolutely dominating two minutes into the third quarter.

Alabama 28, Wisconsin 3.

— Jesse Temple (@jessetemple) September 14, 2024

A mass exodus from the student section took place as soon as “Jump Around” finished blaring from the loudspeakers following the third quarter, with only a speck of white shirts from the red-and-white fan “Stripe Out” dotting the otherwise empty bleachers. By that time, the Crimson Tide led 35-10.

Wisconsin athletics director Chris McIntosh fired Paul Chryst five games into the 2022 season following a 2-3 start and ultimately hired Fickell from Cincinnati in late November of that year to help restore the program’s championship-level aspirations. Fickell’s average annual salary is $7.8 million, which means he is paid like a top-20 coach. But right now, he doesn’t have a top-20 program or, arguably, even a top-40 program given the way the Badgers have performed.

Although Wisconsin is 2-1, there is no guarantee the Badgers will extend their 22-year bowl game streak because of a daunting schedule with Big Ten play on the horizon. Van Dyke’s injury status further calls into question what the rest of this season looks like. Fickell said Van Dyke would need an MRI but that “I don’t think it looks real good for him.” Backup Braedyn Locke replaced him and completed 13 of 26 passes for 125 yards with one touchdown.

Wisconsin has attempted to overhaul its roster through high school recruiting and the transfer portal, and it’s become increasingly clear that the transition under a new staff and with new schemes is taking longer than people in the program expected. The Badgers are now 9-7 in 16 games under Fickell, including 0-3 against nationally ranked teams, and it’s still not apparent what they do exceptionally well or even what the identity of the team is coming off a 7-6 campaign in Year 1 for Fickell.

“We know we’ve got a hell of a long way to go to figure out what we are and what we can hang our hat on,” Fickell said. “But I have faith and trust in those guys in that locker room. And that’s what you’ve got to continue to ride with.”

Fickell wanted to establish a physical brand of football in two closer-than-expected victories against Western Michigan and South Dakota that still left plenty to be desired. But the team’s physicality was outmatched against Alabama.

Case in point: Wisconsin failed to convert a fourth-and-1 from the Alabama 39-yard line out of a shotgun formation while clinging to a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter. Four plays later, Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Ryan Williams that gave Alabama the lead for good.

Wisconsin doesn’t seem to possess the caliber of running backs it did during its high point. There aren’t enough wide receivers who have been able to consistently stretch the field to make Phil Longo’s version of the Air Raid go. And the Badgers haven’t been able to take care of the ball well enough. They fumbled four times and lost two of them against Alabama, including Chez Mellusi’s third-quarter back-breaker that all but gift-wrapped Alabama a 28-3 edge.

“Obviously, Alabama is a really good football team, but I didn’t feel like they were 30 points better than us,” Badgers receiver Will Pauling said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a lot today. And when you’re playing a team like Alabama, a team that has a lot of talent and skill, those small details, they really magnify the game and they really change the game in big ways.”

Members of Wisconsin’s defense, meanwhile, believed they were ready because they had handled adversity in their first two victories. But playing well in the fourth quarter against lesser foes really wasn’t an indicator they could hang with Alabama. Wisconsin’s defense surrendered six touchdowns on 12 Alabama drives. Milroe looked like the Heisman Trophy candidate that he is, accounting for five touchdowns — three passing and two rushing.

Wisconsin safety Hunter Wohler was the most outspoken player last season when the Badgers struggled, at one point saying after a loss to Northwestern the team was “miles different from what I grew up watching.” He struck a different tone after the Alabama loss, saying: “I don’t fear where we are as a program and as a team.” But not everybody felt as optimistic in the immediate aftermath.

“It’s easy for me to say, ‘Oh, no, you can’t judge us off of that,’” Wisconsin cornerback Ricardo Hallman said. “But at the same time, you guys saw that. Alabama is one of the juggernauts in college football. That’s where we want to be as a team, and we got completely obliterated today, and that was terrible. So it’s easy for me to say, ‘Oh, you can’t judge us.’ But I don’t know really what to say to that. This was an early season test we failed.”

Fickell gave his most impassioned answer after the game when he said he knew this season would be a battle and that he didn’t want to jump to conclusions based on one game. Still, his players understood what Saturday represented. Wisconsin had not played a top-10 nonconference opponent at home since facing Miami 35 years earlier.

That day, Wisconsin took a 3-0 lead early before losing 51-3, leading to chants from the Badgers’ fans of “We scored first.” Wisconsin has tried to find a formula that can lead to some of the success the program found over the previous three decades. But that’s not exactly the Wisconsin team this version wants to emulate.

“I expected to win games like this when I first came here,” Hallman said. “I know what Wisconsin is and what we were before I got here. It’s really frustrating and really challenging because as a program, as history-rich as we are and how many great players on the team that we’ve had, we know we’ve got to be better. It’s just a terrible feeling.”

(Photo of LT Overton and Braedyn Locke: John Fisher / Getty Images)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and first lady Gwen Walz spoke at a campaign stop Saturday afternoon in Superior, Wisconsin.

Watch the event in the video player above.

Vice President Kamala Harris has upcoming events scheduled in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin as her campaign focuses spending on the “blue wall” states with the Nov. 5 election nearing.

WATCH: How union workers in battleground states could swing the election

On Tuesday, Harris will sit for an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia. Two days later, she is joining Oprah Winfrey in Michigan at her “Unite for America” livestream event with 140 different grassroots organizations. Harris’ visit to Wisconsin on Friday will be her fourth since she launched her White House run in July.

Harris’ campaign has a large operation in the states with hundreds of staff and on-the-ground outreach efforts. Supporters in Wisconsin have knocked on more than 500,000 doors and that since last week’s debate with Trump, the campaign has signed up more than 3,000 new volunteers.

Overall, Harris’ team is on pace to outspend Republican Donald Trump’s campaign 2-to-1 in television advertising over the next two months. Even before Democratic President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and made way for Harris, the Democrats wielded superior campaign infrastructure in battleground states.

Harris’ team, which includes her campaign and an allied super political action committee, has more than $280 million in television and radio reservations for the period between Tuesday and Election Day, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact. Trump’s team has $133 million reserved for the final stretch, although that number is expected to grow.