Wisconsin Football: Report card for Badgers following win vs. Illinois
Defense
Wisconsin football has earned a reputation for having one of the better defensive units in the NCAA, and they showed Friday night that this year will be no different. They continue to restock each year. No Chris Orr or Zack Baun? No problem! We have Leo Chenal, Jack Sanborn, Noah Burks, and Nick Herbig ready to step up!
The first big stat for this defense: zero points allowed. Not much more to say than that. The only way Illinois could put points on the board was with their defense.
This whole unit was very impressive last night. They allowed just 131 yards on the ground, and 75 of those yards came from quarterback Brandon Peters on a couple of big runs. Other than that, the Illini game was completely shut down.
Through the air, the Illini could get nothing going. Peters completed 8-of-19 passes for just 87 yards. Their freshman quarterback Isaiah Williams got into the game a bit too. He completed none of his three pass attempts, one of which was intercepted by freshman safety, Titus Toler in garbage time.
A big part of the Badgers’ success defending the pass was junior cornerback, Rachad Wildgoose. He was on the Illini’s primary receiver, Josh Imartobhebhe for most of the night. Imartorbhebhe is a big-play receiver for Illinois. Last season, he averaged 19.2 yards per catch last year. Last night, he caught just three passes for 26 yards, an average of 8.7 yards per catch. Every time Peters threw the ball to Imatorbhebhe, it was contested. The Badgers did a very nice job keeping him covered.
The Wisconsin defense also did a nice job forcing turnovers. They forced a fumble on Illinois’ first possession, giving the offense great field position to go up 7-0 early in the game. The late interception by Toler was about the fifth nail in the coffin, but it gave Wisconsin the win in the turnover battle.
The last thing I want to point out is how well they did on third and fourth downs. The defense held Illinois to 2-10 on third downs and 0-3 on fourth downs.
Overall, this was an absolutely dominant performance from the Wisconsin defense. They will play teams who are much better on offense, but this unit will make things very hard for whoever they play. Wisconsin football will have a top defensive unit yet again in 2020.