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Wisconsin Football: Offensive stat predictions for Badgers vs. EMU

By Christian Borman

Sep 4, 2021; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers mascot Bucky Badger waves the Wisconsin flag prior to the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 4, 2021; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers mascot Bucky Badger waves the Wisconsin flag prior to the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Graham Mertz; Wisconsin football
Sep 4, 2021; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin football Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz (5) throws a pass during warmups prior to the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /

The offense for the Wisconsin football team is looking to bounce back and improve their reputation this week after a mistake-filled game last Saturday. Outside of a few plays, the offense for the Badgers really wasn’t that bad. They outgained the Nittany Lions 365 yards to 297. Granted, the Badgers also held the ball a lot longer. The time of possession was in Wisconsin’s favor 42:51 to Penn State’s 17:09.

If you have the ball that long, your offense must be doing something right. Taking time off the clock and converting a decent amount of 3rd downs (7-of-22). What really killed the Badgers was the turnovers and penalties. They came at the worst times; in the red zone. A fumble, two interceptions, and a blocked field goal attempt were all perfect examples of the Wisconsin football team shooting themselves in the foot.

Now the Badgers have a chance to clean up those mistakes and give us a better idea of what the offense looks like this Saturday night against Eastern Michigan. I think they will be much more efficient and will put up some more impressive numbers than they did against Penn State.

Here are some individual offensive stat predictions for the Wisconsin football team in Week 2.

Quarterbacks

Graham Mertz

Graham Mertz took the brunt of the blame and criticism for the offensive woes last week. While he definitely wasn’t perfect, I don’t think it’s fair to place the loss completely on him.

Individually, he didn’t look comfortable. He looked anxious in the pocket and floated a lot of his throws. I also thought he often locked onto a receiver from the start of the play and would throw it to him no matter what, rather than going through his progressions.

A lot of Badger fans are already jumping off of the Graham Mertz wagon, especially after watching Jack Coan put up some big numbers for Notre Dame on Sunday night.

I think all Mertz really needs is to get some confidence back. Playing a team like Eastern Michigan will allow him to do just that. If I’m Paul Chryst, I’m throwing the ball a lot this weekend to get his confidence back. I think he puts up some nice numbers on Saturday, even though there is a decent chance he could get pulled early if the score gets out of hand.

Prediction: 24-of-32 (75%) for 275 yards, 2 TD’s, and 0 INT’s

Chase Wolf

I think this game is a blowout. When the score gets out of hand, I think the Badgers will pull Mertz and give Wolf some snaps. I don’t think Wolf will be throwing it a ton and the Badgers will be running the ball a lot to run the clock out, but I think he will still get a few opportunities to throw the ball.

Prediction: 5-of-7 (71%) for 42 yards, 0 TD’s, and 0 INT’s