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Wisconsin Football: Tale of the tape vs. Central Michigan

By Christian Borman

MADISON, WI - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Paul Chryst of the Wisconsin Badgers congratulates Jonathan Taylor (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MADISON, WI - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Paul Chryst of the Wisconsin Badgers congratulates Jonathan Taylor (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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Special Teams

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 27: Aron Cruickshank #1 of the Wisconsin Badgers attempts a dive into the end zone in the fourth quarter of the New Era Pinstripe Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes at Yankee Stadium on December 27, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Cruickshank was out of bounds at the one-yard line. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 27: Aron Cruickshank #1 of the Wisconsin Badgers attempts a dive into the end zone in the fourth quarter of the New Era Pinstripe Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes at Yankee Stadium on December 27, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Cruickshank was out of bounds at the one-yard line. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Wisconsin

There were some questions marks for Wisconsin’s special teams going into the game last week. For the first time in four years, Rafael Gaglianone was not kicking field goals for the Wisconsin football team. Sophomore Collin Larsh spent the last two season as a redshirt and a reserve and never had a field goal attempt at the collegiate level.

He finally got his shot last week and missed a 30-yard field goal in his only field goal attempt. Luckily, he had seven chances to kick extra points, and he didn’t miss any of them. He went 7-7, converting all of his extra points. Once he settles in, he will likely be able to hit those 30-yard field goals on a regular basis.

Punter Anthony Lotti also had a productive night. He punted the ball five times, averaging 40.8 yards per punt. Definitely an improvement from last year’s 38.6 average.

The Badgers had only one kick return to start the game, and Aron Cruickshank returned it for 23 yards to start Wisconsin’s opening drive, which resulted in a touchdown. Punt returner Jack Dunn had a much busier night. He returned four of the seven punts for an average of 15.5 yards per return, including a 41-yard return.

Central Michigan

CMU has a veteran kicker in senior Ryan Tice. Tice started his career at Michigan before transferring to Central Michigan. Tice is a 79% career field goal kicker on 14 attempts, and 97% on extra points, going 28-29. Last week, he hit a 50-yard field goal in the second quarter last week.

Brady Buell handles the punting for CMU. He had only two punts last week and averaged 38 yards per punt, including a 52-yard punt.

Returning kicks for CMU is running back Kobe Lewis. He returned two kicks for 38 yards. The punt returner is Kalil Pimpleton, who also returned two punts for just 14 yards. The return game for CMU isn’t quite as dynamic as the Badgers’ special teams.

Other than the kicker, Wisconsin seems to have the advantage at every other position, giving them the thumbs-up.

Advantage: Wisconsin

All stats are courtesy of sports-reference.com.