Badger of Honor
Fansided

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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Wisconsin Football linebacker Ryan Connelly
MADISON, WI – AUGUST 31: Ryan Connelly #43 of the Wisconsin Badgers sacks Drew Eckels #4 of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the first quarter at Camp Randall Stadium on August 31, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

B-. . . Wisconsin Badgers. LINEBACKERS

This is a group I was very disappointed in. BYU decided it wanted to take advantage of the overall lack of experience on the defense and mix in its fair share of jet sweeps and fake sweeps. Tons of play actions and misdirections got the whole defense guessing wrong early in the game, but the linebackers are supposed to be the strength of the defense and dissect those kinds of plays before they turn into breakouts.

Too many times did a BYU ball carrier get to the edge because a veteran linebacker wasn’t aware of what was going on. That’s assignment football and something the leadership on the defense should have been able to pick up well before it became such a successful part of BYU’s game plan.

And on the runs up the middle, the linebackers were nowhere to be found. BYU’s offensive line was either cleaning them up in the second level or they weren’t diagnosing the play quick enough.

Iowa is going to do a lot of the same things that BYU did as far as trying to win on the ground. The linebackers must be better, much like the offensive line, because they are better.

Andrew Van Ginkel left this game with a leg injury that put him in a walking boot. I talked about Zack Baun last week heading into the game. He played pretty well, but he’ll have to step his game up even more.

Baun, T.J. Edwards, and Ryan Connelly did combine for 3.5 tackles for loss on the day. They’re a talented bunch, which drops the grade for this subpar performance more than otherwise.