The Wisconsin Badgers had a day to remember on Saturday, as they blew out the Eastern Michigan Eagles 54-10, putting together a complete performance on offense, defense, and special teams.
It wasn’t the best start for Wisconsin, which had a turnover on downs and an interception on its first two offensive drives, while giving up a touchdown on the opening drive defensively. But the Badgers went on to score 41 consecutive points, ultimately winning by 44 in arguably their best win of the Luke Fickell era.
It was the most points the Badgers scored in a game under Fickell, topping the 52 points they dropped back in 2024 against Purdue, and was a big difference from the first two weeks of the season.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s major win on Saturday in Week 3.
Colton Joseph shows his upside
It was not a perfect day for Colton Joseph. He missed a number of open throws and threw an ugly interception early in the game. But the Badgers quarterback settled in to throw for 362 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for another 46 and a score. He had over 300 yards in the first half alone and continued to show a willingness to push the ball downfield, even after his early mistakes.
The Badgers got Joseph on some more bootlegs and in play-action more on Saturday, and those were the situations where he was best. We also saw Joseph run the ball more, and I think Wisconsin is looking to save most of that for the Big Ten schedule.
I’ve said that Wisconsin’s offense has been dynamic with a rushing threat at quarterback, as he can hold zone defenders and create those downfield opportunities that came often on Saturday.
The accuracy must improve. There were still a number of easy opportunities left on the table on Saturday, but even with those, Joseph made a number of plays that showed the potential of this offense under Jeff Grimes. It was a good sign to see heading into Big Ten play.
Mike Tressel’s unit comes to play
When it comes to the disappointing parts of the first two weeks, it was more on the defensive end where fans wanted to see more after the Badgers were too inconsistent there against Notre Dame and Western Illinois.
After watching the film, head coach Luke Fickell even said that he felt the team had “to be careful of being arrogant and delusional at times,” which you could see on defense with players overcommitting and not being disciplined enough.
Things didn’t start great for the Badgers on their first drive. They had a huge coverage bust on a play-action, with Matt Jung unnecessarily crashing down, leaving an open receiver for a big explosive. Then, Javan Robinson had a rough 1-on-1 rep on a go route, getting burned for the opening touchdown.
But from there, Wisconsin bottled down on defense, forcing three straight three-and-outs before notching back-to-back interceptions to end the first half. It was the defense that really started to spark the offense, as Wisconsin scored 31 unanswered points to take a 31-7 halftime lead.
Wisconsin had been lacking in the turnover department and got three on Saturday. I really thought Tressel dialed up the pressure in a ton of key situations, while Bryce West was all over the line of scrimmage with a number of nice stops.
This was a much better game for Wisconsin’s defense, although you do want to see them be more physical on the ground after Eastern Michigan did push them around a bit early in the game.
Special teams looking great
Wisconsin’s special teams unit has been a problem over the past few years. Head coach Luke Fickell knew that and made it a point of emphasis this offseason, hiring coordinator Bob Ligashesky in March.
Ligashesky has been a major positive early on for the Badgers, as Wisconsin’s punt unit has already blocked a couple of punts and come really close to blocking others.
Gavin Lahm has also done well as the starter, and he remained perfect after two more field goals on Saturday. He’s now 7 for 7 on the season, while being 10 for 11 on extra points. That’s been a good sign, as Wisconsin has dealt with kicker issues the last two seasons.
Special teams will make a big difference in close games in the Big Ten. Wisconsin is looking like one of the best units in that department after being one of the worst last year.