MADISON, Wis. — Oh, you thought last week was bad?
Wisconsin football hit a new low this season during a 24-10 loss to Northwestern on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. It was an all-around miserable performance that came on the heels of a 20-14 defeat last week at Indiana — which is 3-22 in league games over the past three seasons. And it came after Badgers coach Luke Fickell said his team had its best Sunday practice all season.
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So much for that.
Here are three initial Wisconsin takeaways:
1. Where was the defense in the first half? Perhaps the Badgers left it back at the Best Western InnTowner because it was nowhere to be found on the field. Northwestern absolutely embarrassed Wisconsin by scoring touchdowns on each of its first three possessions.
On the first score, cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean and safety Preston Zachman both took underneath receiver Cam Johnson, which left receiver A.J. Henning wide-open down the right sideline for a 23-yard touchdown to give Northwestern a 7-3 lead. Wildcats quarterback Ben Bryant — a one-time Wisconsin commit in the 2018 class — scored when he faked a handoff and kept the ball around the right side for a 1-yard touchdown run. Bryant then completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, who beat Badgers cornerback Alexander Smith in the end zone. By the time halftime mercifully arrived, Northwestern led 24-3.
'Cats with a steady lead. 😤
TD this time from @camjohnson_23.
📺: FS1/@CFBONFOX
— Northwestern On BTN (@NUOnBTN) November 11, 2023
Here’s how bad the first half was for Wisconsin: Northwestern came into the game ranked 65th nationally in third-down conversion rate at 39.4 percent. Yet the Wildcats converted on each of their first 10 third-down opportunities. Wisconsin didn’t stop Northwestern on third down until 1:10 remained in the second quarter, when Bryant’s third-and-13 scramble went for three yards. Northwestern kicker Jack Olsen then made a 28-yard field goal.
Northwestern entered the day averaging 292.1 yards of total offense per game, which ranked 125th in the country. The Wildcats gained 294 yards of offense in the first half. Wisconsin’s defense was much better in the second half, but it was far too late by then.
2. One of the big storylines when kickoff arrived was the return from injuries of quarterback Tanner Mordecai, wide receiver Chimere Dike and running back Braelon Allen. All three were in the starting lineup when the game began. But Allen and Dike clearly were limited, and Mordecai couldn’t ignite the offense.
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Allen carried three times for three yards and added an eight-yard reception. However, the ankle he injured two weeks ago against Ohio State continued to bother him. He did not play beyond the second drive of the game. Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli took his place, but neither did enough to carry the offense. Acker rushed four times for 11 yards with a touchdown, while Yacamelli carried nine times for 47 yards.
Dike, meanwhile, wore a brace over his right knee and didn’t record a catch. He did corral a 6-yard pass from Mordecai in the third quarter, but the play was negated because of a holding penalty on left tackle Jack Nelson (who finished with three penalties Saturday).
Mordecai looked good on Wisconsin’s first drive, throwing a deep 35-yard completion to receiver Vinny Anthony on a drive that ended in a field goal. But, as has been the case for most of the season, the offense was unable to kick things into gear. In the rest of the first half, Mordecai threw incomplete to receiver Bryson Green on a third-and-2, completed a 1-yard pass to tight end Hayden Rucci on a third-and-4, threw incomplete deep for Dike on a third-and-7 and tossed another incomplete to receiver Will Pauling on a third-and-4.
When Wisconsin sent its punt team onto the field on a fourth-and-3 from the Northwestern 42, boos filled Camp Randall Stadium. They continued as the Badgers left the field for halftime.
Mordecai completed 31-of-45 passes for 255 yards with no touchdown or interceptions. He lost a fumble on a scramble up the middle to give Northwestern the ball back with 10:43 remaining in the game. Wisconsin didn’t score a touchdown until 11 seconds remained and the outcome already was decided.
3. Wisconsin (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten), which has qualified for 21 consecutive bowl games, still needs one more victory over its last two games to ensure that streak continues. And, based on the fact the Badgers have lost four of their last five Big Ten games, that certainly is no guarantee.
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You could say the good news is that Wisconsin plays two mediocre opponents to close the regular season: Nebraska and Minnesota. Nebraska lost Saturday to Maryland, while Minnesota lost to Purdue. But you could have said the same thing about Indiana and Northwestern the past two weeks. Northwestern entered Saturday with a 14-game road losing streak, the longest active streak in the FBS.
This Badgers team has lacked necessary improvement all season. Do they have the fight to pull off a six-win regular season? We’ll see. But that wasn’t a question most people were even asking before the season, which shows just how disappointing Fickell’s first campaign in Madison has been.
(Photo: Lawrence Iles / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
