Wisconsin football was terrible on offense last year; there's no sugarcoating it. It was an offense that lacked any sort of regular rhythm or explosive plays. The quarterback room was a revolving door, and the running back room wasn't far behind it. Add in the fact that the offensive line was patchwork and young players, and it was a recipe for disaster. Exactly what the recipe cooked...disaster.
The Badgers are coming off a four-win season but now have a new quarterback room with a new dynamic signal-caller in Colton Joseph. The offensive line is rebuilt with depth behind them, and the running back room may be the best it has been in years. That all leads Joseph to say that this offense is going to be "explosive." Joseph doubles down with the "We're going to score a lot of points!"
Chris Brooks Jr., who's been here for years, says he has nothing to add because Joseph said it best. If Joseph and Brooks are telling the truth about this new gassed-up offense, then buckle up.
"Explosiveness. . . . We're gonna score a lot of points."
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) August 8, 2026
🗣️ QB @_ColtonJoseph1 on what fans should expect from the @BadgerFootball offense pic.twitter.com/1BkmAYF1Zw
The offense in 2025 was so bad the bar to eclipse it in 2026 is not that high
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Let's just look briefly at last year's woeful offense. The Badgers in 2025 ranked second-to-last in yards per game in all of division 1 football. They were the worst Power-4 team in the country with only 253.1 yards per game. They were bottom-five in passing yards per game and once again the worst Power-4 team with only 136.4 passing yards per game.
The rushing yards per game were 116.7, which wasn't the worst in the Power-4 nor even in the Big Ten; Minnesota and Maryland were both worse. Yet, when you get to the stat that matters the most for offense, points per game. There was only one team worse in all of college football, UMASS, at scoring points. Wisconsin had 12.8 points per game last season. Yikes.
This means the bar is not high to pass; what a disaster 2025 was. Yet, instead of just saying "the Badgers will be better." Joseph leans all the way into "explosive" and "we are going to score a lot of points." So not 12.8 per game? Good.
Jeff Grimes was the new offensive coordinator last year, but he was handcuffed from the beginning. He was limited in personnel and even coaching staff. This last offseason, he brought in many of the coaches he wants to help him build the offensive scheme he envisions at Wisconsin. He brought in Eric Mateos for the offensive line, Jayden Everett for the running backs, and Ari Confesor for the wide receivers.
He then went and upgraded the roster, adding not just one capable quarterback but multiple signal callers who can run the show. The emergence of true freshman Ryan Hopkins was a nice surprise. He also re-tooled the offensive line and added a whole stable of running backs.
All that to say, it's not a pipe dream to think this offense will look a ton different than last season, but it's hard to imagine until Game 1 against Notre Dame.
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