The Wisconsin Badgers won their second game of the season on Saturday, defeating the South Dakota Coyotes 27-13 to improve their record to 2-0 on the year.
At the beginning of the week, Wisconsin was predicted to win by as much as 22.5 points, but by the time the game started, that number had dropped to 17.5. Ultimately, the Badgers won by 14 points for the second week in a row.
After a strong start, Wisconsin faltered on both sides of the ball, resulting in a closer game than expected. However, the Badgers are now 2-0 heading into their hard-fought game against the Alabama Crimson Tide next weekend.
Here are three quick takeaways from the Badgers’ 27-13 win over South Dakota.
Quick start
Unlike Week 1, the Wisconsin Badgers started strong in Week 2 against South Dakota, opening the game with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took just 2:46 of game time.
After failing to complete a single play over 20 yards in Week 1, quarterback Tyler Van Dyke threw a 32-yard pass to Vinny Anthony after coming under pressure and rolling out of the pocket on a play.
He then found Bryson Green for 22 yards gain and 16 yards came after catching a ball over the middle. That led the Badgers into the red zone, where Chez Mellusi scored a 9-yard touchdown for the early 7-0 lead.
Two drives later, Wisconsin scored a quick three-play, 58-yard drive that lasted just 1:23 and was capped by a 50-yard touchdown from Van Dyke to CJ Williams on a well-executed trick play, giving the Badgers a 14-0 lead.
Defensively, the Badgers forced three consecutive punts to start the game. On their first drive, the defense was able to overcome an early missed tackle with consecutive run stops and end the possession.
Then Nyzier Fourqurean came under pressure and forced an incomplete pass, and on the next drive Austin Brown’s pass was broken up, resulting in a 3-and-out.
On the ensuing drive, South Dakota got close to the halfway line, but the Badgers managed a sack, ended possession and forced another punt.
Overall, the game was a bit of a twist, but Wisconsin certainly got off to a strong start, but they’ll have to keep it up for 60 minutes if they want to do well in the Big Ten.
Cornerback changes
After his incredible interception at the end of Week 1, the hype surrounding true freshman cornerback Xavier Lucas grew and questions were raised about how quickly he would make it into the rotation on a permanent basis.
Well, it only lasted one game, as Lucas entered the field on a few third down attempts early in the game before moving into a more permanent role on fourth down defense, serving as the best boundary cornerback opposite Ricardo Hallman.
However, Lucas’ role became more important as the game progressed, as the freshman became the Badgers’ starter from the second half onwards and played all of the boundary spot duties on the first two defensive attacks.
Then, on the third drive, Lucas was injured while defending a pass in the back of the end zone, limped off the field, and was substituted for the rest of the game.
At first glance, Lucas appeared to be slowly developing into Wisconsin’s premier cornerback at the boundary position, and the true freshman did his best by staying tight in coverage throughout without allowing a single catch.
Wisconsin tried a few different cornerback sets, as Nyzier Fourqurean slid into the slot on some reps, with Lucas and Hallman on the outside. That could happen more often if the Badgers have confidence in Lucas, but the deep cornerback room is slowly starting to crumble in favor of the rookie.
Lucas worked through his injury for the rest of the second half and his status is initially unclear, but the Badgers appear to have found their man on the perimeter.
Run defense
Similar to last week, the Badgers’ win in Week 2 was not the prettiest, even though the final score was 27-13.
The Badgers struggled with a number of key issues that either continued from Week 1 or became apparent multiple times in Week 2.
The biggest problem, however, was the run defense, as South Dakota’s offense had the game firmly under control for a long time.
The Coyotes were led by sophomore running back Charles Pierre Jr., who found ways to evade tackles and create big plays for South Dakota, even though Wisconsin focused its efforts primarily on run defense.
Wisconsin’s defensive line continues to struggle to win the battle at the line of scrimmage. The runs consistently make their way to the second level, where the Badgers did not play particularly well on Saturday.
It’s clear that the strength of this defense lies in the secondary, but the Badgers won’t be able to reap the fruits of their labor if their front seven players can’t stop the run.
Missed tackles became a problem again after the Badgers had just four missed tackles in Week 1, leading to more chunk plays for South Dakota, which moved the ball well despite a weak passing attack.
With Big Ten play just around the corner, the Badgers need to do a better job of tackling the running game or they will struggle defensively all season.
The good news was that Wisconsin was unable to get out of bounds on some of its attacks, limiting South Dakota to two field goals in the red zone while forcing the team to punt twice in opposing territory.
Still, run defense is a real problem for the team, and that will likely become apparent in the next few weeks if Wisconsin doesn’t fix the issues quickly.
