It was hard to know exactly how much to take from Wisconsin’s 49-point decimation of Purdue last Saturday. On one hand, the Boilermakers were a bad football team — something their head coach acknowledged immediately afterward. On the other hand, the Badgers had played inferior competition before under coach Luke Fickell and not manhandled their opponent the way they did a week ago.
The consensus was that the performance marked a step in the right direction. But a more representative barometer on progress this season would come on the road against a one-loss Rutgers team with a top-20 scoring defense and one of the best running backs in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin met the moment to beat Rutgers 42-7 at SHI Stadium during a key inflection point for the Badgers. Fickell has wanted a more physical, disciplined approach on both sides of the ball, and his team delivered.
Here are three initial takeaways from the Badgers’ victory.
Got ‘𝐑 done.#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/0dbYPFVnmV
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) October 12, 2024
Fast start offensively paves the way
Offensive coordinator Phil Longo received his share of criticism for a subpar first season in Madison and a slow start in Year 2, which featured few explosive plays. But the game he called against Rutgers was perhaps his best since arriving at Wisconsin. He kept the Scarlet Knights on their heels with a blend of hard-nosed running plays and enough big pass plays to move the chains. His players also executed at a high level for a second consecutive week.
Wisconsin scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to set the tone by taking a 14-0 halftime lead and two more touchdowns in the third quarter to put the game away. Running back Tawee Walker converted an early third-and-2 run for 7 yards when he bounced outside after nothing was available up the middle. Quarterback Braedyn Locke then picked up where he left off against Purdue, when he threw for 359 yards, with three outstanding completions against Rutgers on the opening drive. The last was a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver Will Pauling that gave Wisconsin a 7-0 lead with 9:10 remaining in the first quarter.
Locke delivered some impressive deep balls, including a 34-yarder down the left sideline to receiver Vinny Anthony on the first drive and a 47-yarder to Anthony in the third quarter to set up another score. But Wisconsin fans pining for some of the program’s old-school smashmouth approach had to come away happy with just how physical the Badgers were in the run game.
Case in point: There were two plays in which Wisconsin went under center and ran the Power I formation with fullback Jackson Acker blocking for Walker. According to TruMedia, the Badgers had been under center for just one play all season before Saturday. Walker gained 2 yards on a third-and-3 from under center near the goal line and then finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run out of the shotgun on fourth-and-1 to give Wisconsin a 14-0 edge.
Then, in the third quarter, Wisconsin’s Power I resulted in a 9-yard touchdown run from Walker and a 28-0 lead. Left guard Joe Brunner exemplified the physicality Fickell wants by knocking his defender backward to help spring Walker around the left side. Freshman running back Darrion Dupree also scored near the goal line on a 2-yard run for his first career touchdown. Even Locke scored a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown at the goal line after reserve tailback Cade Yacamelli exploded for a 45-yard run.
Walker has taken over as the primary ball carrier with Chez Mellusi stepping aside last week to recover from injuries. He has been everything the Badgers wanted when they grabbed him out of the transfer portal from Oklahoma. Walker carried 18 times for 93 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone and finished with 24 carries for 198 yards and three touchdowns, including a 55-yarder in the third quarter.
Defense dominates
Wisconsin’s defense has now recorded consecutive strong performances following a tough second half against USC in which the Badgers couldn’t get off the field on third down. Rutgers by no means possessed an offense that should have been feared. But the Scarlet Knights did have tailback Kyle Monangai, who entered the day ranked second in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (133.4) while averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
Monangai did score a touchdown early in the fourth quarter for Rutgers’ first points but otherwise had a quiet day. He carried 19 times for 72 yards Saturday for an average of 3.8 yards per attempt. Rutgers punted the ball on its first five drives and finished the first half with six punts, a turnover on downs and a missed field goal.
The turnover on downs highlighted Wisconsin’s toughness defensively. Rutgers faced a fourth-and-1 from Wisconsin’s 10-yard line in the second quarter but defensive lineman Ben Barten and linebacker Jaheim Thomas stuffed Monangai for no gain.
Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis mustered little against Wisconsin. Two years ago, while he was the quarterback at Minnesota, he threw for 319 yards against the Badgers. But he threw for just 103 yards on 32 attempts with an interception on Saturday.
Optimism increasing
What Wisconsin has shown the last two games feels like everything Fickell hoped for when he hired his coordinators. Mike Tressel’s defense has been aggressive and opportunistic. Longo’s offense has been efficient and explosive. If Wisconsin (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) can continue to play in this fashion, then the ceiling for the team this season is higher than what was believed just a few weeks ago.
The performance Saturday wasn’t perfect. Locke threw an interception on a deep ball into double coverage. Pauling was knocked out of the game when he suffered an upper-body injury in the second quarter and lost a fumble on the play. Kicker Nathanial Vakos missed a 35-yard field goal wide right. But this was the best overall performance by Wisconsin in the Fickell era, which has to create a greater sense of optimism about what the future could look like.
Wisconsin plays at Northwestern (3-3, 1-2) next week in a game that could give the Badgers a three-game winning streak and get them to 5-2 overall. Then comes the toughest stretch of the season with Penn State and Oregon at home and Iowa and Nebraska on the road. The version of Wisconsin that showed up for the Rutgers game will be a tough one for opponents to handle.
The Badgers look like they’ve turned a corner at a critical moment.
(Photo of Tawee Walker: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
