Wisconsin
Wisconsin football’s glimpses of progress don’t last against loaded Indiana Hoosiers squad
BLOOMINGTON, IND. – Given the Wisconsin football team’s résumé, a win would have been a lot to expect.
Indiana is the No. 2-ranked team in the country for a reason. The Hoosiers are getting outstanding quarterback play, have potential NFL talent on the offenisve line and at receiver and have studs at each level of the defense.
Indiana is headed to the College Football Playoff. The Badgers are still finding their way.
So one week after getting its first Big Ten win of the season, did UW show progress in its 31-7 loss to Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 15?
In answering that question, consider:
- Indiana’s 10-7 halftime lead equaled its second-closest first half of the season. It was tied with Iowa and led Oregon by 3 points.
- The Badgers’ five sacks Saturday were the most allowed by Indiana this season. Wisconsin’s seven tackles for a loss was the second-highest total for a Hoosiers’ opponent.
Of course the Badgers need much more to become a consistent winner, but what they showed Saturday was more in line with what we saw from the team in its two previous games against Oregon and Washington than what it delivered against Iowa, Ohio State and Maryland.
The challenge Saturday was maintaining that standard of play for 60 minutes against a team that ranks top six nationally in total offense and defense.
“I think the first half you saw us execute a majority of the half, and I think that wasn’t the case in the second half,” said graduate outside linebacker Darryl Peterson, who had a career-high 2½ sacks. “Obviously, the last two games, we’ve got to try to put together four quarters of execution, all three phases.”
Famililar struggles haunt Badgers
Despite the spirited start, Wisconsin’s Achilles heel came back to trip it.
It gained just 23 yards in the second half, and its 168 total yards for the game was its second-lowest total of the season behind the 144 it gained against No. 1 Ohio State.
Injuries played a role in those struggles. Running back Gideon Ituka, a spark for the run game the previous two games, was carted off the field and taken to the hospital after a hard hit in the third quarter and center Davis Heinzen, who made his third straight start, didn’t finish the game due to an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, the defense didn’t force a turnover for the sixth game this season and was carved up by IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who connected on 22 of 24 throws for 299 yards. Big plays were huge as he gained 166 of those yards on just five completions.
His opposite number, Wisconsin freshman Carter Smith, completed nine of 15 passes for 98 yards and one touchdown.
“It’s a tale of two halves,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said. “In the first half, to be honest with you, that’s kind of the way you’d draw it up for us, methodically doing some things, moving the football, taking care of the football, eliminating big plays other than one defensively.
“I think that was the idea of the way we want to be able to play right now and the complementary idea of what football’s got to look like for us.”
The ups and downs of Carter Smith’s first start
Smith was given a looser rein in his second game and was given the opportunity to make more plays downfield.
The coaches showed him great trust in calling what proved to be Wisconsin’s biggest play of the day, a 45-yard touchdown pass to tight end Lance Mason on a fourth-and-1 play.
That score tied the game, 7-7, with 3 minutes 42 seconds to go in the first half, but in the second half Smith turned it over twice. The crucial one was his fumble at the UW 21 that almost instantly led to a Hoosiers touchdown that pushed their lead to 24-7. Two of Indiana’s three second-half touchdowns came off Smith turnovers.
The Badgers tried to take some chances in the second half. They just didn’t work out.
“To think that you’re going to methodically drive 12, 13 plays down the field on a really, really good football team, it’s not (realistic) …” Fickell said. “We’ve got to be able to take some more shots. We’ve got to give him some more opportunities. We’ve got to turn him loose a little bit more, and unfortunately, you know, it didn’t work well for us.”
Smith entered the game during the second series against Washington but didn’t get starter snaps in practice that week. Heading into the Indiana game, he received more of those reps in practice.
He also had more put on his plate.
“That’s something that comes with playing quarterback,” Smith said about the added workload. “So it’s something I need to get better with is having a lot on my plate and being able to handle it all.”
Two games to go, much to accomplish
The loss guarantees Wisconsin (3-7, 1-6) its second straight losing season, but the team has two games remaining.
Next Illinois (7-3, 4-3) comes to Camp Randall on Nov. 22; then UW plays at Minnesota (6-4, 4-3) on Nov. 29.
“We got to keep pushing, and we’re going to find out a hell of a lot about everybody that’s in this program, whether they’re seniors that have two guaranteed opportunities to play the game of football left, or young guys,” Fickell said. “Everything has got to be evaluated, and we’ve got to grow.”