Wisconsin Football: 3 Things We Learned At Michigan
By Tyler Hunt
What Did We Learn During The Badgers First Loss?
Wisconsin football suffered its first loss on Saturday at Michigan. All in all, it was a tough game for the Badgers, but not an outcome to be super disappointed or worried about. After the game, Coach Chryst said they would “learn from it”, so what exactly did we learn from Saturday’s defeat?
3. We learned Alex Hornibrook is still a freshman
After leading a comeback against Georgia State, and looking incredible against Michigan State Alex Hornibrook seemed as though he could do no wrong, but against Michigan some growing pains came out. Hornibrook was just 9 for 25 for 88 yards, along with three interceptions. Overall, it was a very tough day for the young quarterback. That being said, he is still very much the best option for Wisconsin going forward. He’s going to make mistakes, he forced some throws, but as a freshman quarterback making his second career start at the Big House, its nothing to panic about. Its a TOUGH place to play. Wisconsin fans overlooked his youth, and it reappeared on Saturday. Have patience, these starts will allow him to get better and set him up for years to come.
2. We learned TJ Watt is a lot like JJ (If not better)
I know what you’re thinking.. wow, did he just say TJ Watt is better than his three time NFL Defensive MVP brother JJ? Yes I did, sort of. While JJ has had an unbelievable career in the NFL his time at Wisconsin was not as prolific. In his 26 game career at Wisconsin JJ recorded 11.5 sacks. His brother TJ in just thirteen games dating back to a couple games last year and this year has 9 already. I know they play very different positions and if you compare stats blah blah blah my point is he’s a freak, just like his brother. TJ has a combo of speed, agility and power that made Wilton Speight uncomfortable all game long. With just a few games into his junior season we still have a lot to see from TJ so just sit back and enjoy watching him get after it before its too late.
1. We Learned The Offense has to Be More Dynamic
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The Badgers offense was miserable for most of Saturday’s game, and they haven’t really blown anyone away so far this season. In the Paul Chryst Offensive coordinator days, the offense seemed to hit big plays at will. That trait has somewhat gone away now. I know we had future pros in Russell Wilson and Melvin Gordon, and that makes a difference but we just aren’t seeing the creativity that we once did. The Badgers offense needs to get more dynamic in their play calling. We used to run the wide receiver quick once a possession, and Chryst finally started to implement that with Jazz Peavy late Saturday. More creative ways to get skill position players the ball is important to the Badgers going forward. If they want to begin, to hit bigger plays they need to start opening the playbook more and stop leaning too heavily on the power run and control the clock game.