Badger of Honor
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Wisconsin football: Grading position groups from week three vs. BYU

By Tanner Nestle

MADISON, WI - SEPTEMBER 15: Adam Pulsipher #41 and Merrill Taliauli #54 of the BYU Cougars celebrate after a missed field goal in the fourth quarter of the game by the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. BYU won 24-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
MADISON, WI - SEPTEMBER 15: Adam Pulsipher #41 and Merrill Taliauli #54 of the BYU Cougars celebrate after a missed field goal in the fourth quarter of the game by the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. BYU won 24-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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MADISON, WI – SEPTEMBER 15: Corbin Kaufusi #90 of the BYU Cougars celebrates with teammates after a tackle for loss against the Wisconsin Badgers in the third quarter of the game at Camp Randall Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. BYU won 24-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Wisconsin Badgers. OFFENSIVE LINE . D. .

With such good grades for the offense, you were probably wondering what could have led to such a sloppy game, right? It’s because those solid performances from multiple backs and receivers were in spite of the poor showing from the offensive line.

They struggled to win the battle in the trenches and open up any significant holes for the running game. Jonathan Taylor’s longest run of the day was for only 15 yards. Garrett Gorshek had a run go for 31 yards, but his other five carries only resulted in a total of 14 yards. That’s just unacceptable.

Alex Hornibrook was sacked twice and rarely looked comfortable in the backfield. His suboptimal passing numbers were a result of the line play too.

The offensive line had gotten so bad that at one point in the game the starters were pulled. I think any talk of the heat being at play is just coach speak. Do you want to talk about a wake-up call? That’s as harsh as it gets.

Luckily for the starters, the reserves didn’t fare too well either. BYU deserves a ton of credit for how well it played on the defensive front, but at some point, there is an expectation that the Badgers just do better in this area. I gave credit to Western Kentucky for its well-schemed pressures in week one. I don’t want to have to give any credit to teams in the future for this again.

The offensive line is better than this. It needs to dominate, period.