Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin football team has officially opened their Big Ten football season after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday.

The Badgers entered halftime up 21-3 courtesy of two rushing touchdowns by quarterback Tanner Mordecai. Wisconsin never looked back and held onto their lead for the remainder of the game. Once again, the Wisconsin ground game proved to be too much for their opponent as the Badgers recorded four touchdowns and 195 yards rushing. Wisconsin also recorded three turnovers on the defensive side of the ball as Ricardo Hallman dominated for the Badgers with two interceptions.

While there were plenty of positives in the 38-17 win over the Boilermakers, there is still room for improvement. Fans were quick to fill social media with a variety of responses following the victory.

Wisconsin Badgers Excite Fans In Big Ten Conference Opener Against Purdue 

While the entirety of the game was not exciting, the Badgers had their moments and provided some excellent football for their fans. Including, the exceptional “Philly Special” the Badgers ran at the end of the game, as well as the intriguing rushing touchdowns. Transfer kicker Nathanial Vakos also impressed as he went 3-for-3 with his longest kick at 48-yards.

The Wisconsin Badgers just ran a trick play. I don’t know what to do with myself

— Joey Leibl (@JLeibs30) September 22, 2023

Never have I thought I would see the WISCONSIN Badgers run the Philly special

— Logan Graf (@Grafski) September 22, 2023

Through four games Nathaniel Vakos is looking like the best kicker Wisconsin Badgers have ever had.

— wisconsinsane (@wisconsinsane) September 23, 2023

I thought Ricardo Hallman had a really nice bounce-back performance against Purdue.

The Boilermakers targeted Hallman six times and he only allowed two catches for 14 yards — while tacking on two interceptions and a PBU. #Badgers

— Dillon Graff (@DillonGraff) September 23, 2023

The Wisconsin Badgers Football Team Ran Wild Once Again

Against the Purdue Boilermakers, the Badgers recorded four touchdowns and 195 yards on the ground. Through the first four games of the season, Wisconsin has rushed for 807 yards and 14 touchdowns, with an average of 5.4 yards per carry. While the offense in general has struggled, the run game is certainly thriving under Head Coach Luke Fickell and Offensive Coordinator Phil Longo.

This is not your father’s Wisconsin Badgers offense and Purdue is terrible. #InDepthAnalysis #OnWisconsin

— Pat Heffling (@wurstbrewerfan) September 22, 2023

Lots of improvement last night. Badger football is fun again and I am happy about it #Badgers https://t.co/OEhUIDm5Gd

— Billy Lauderdale (@billylauds) September 23, 2023

Some fans enjoyed the success of the Wisconsin football team, but seemed eager for the elusive running back Braelon Allen to touch the football more.

They need to feed him the rock more often. The man is a beast!

— Curt Falken (@CurtFalken1) September 23, 2023

For Some Fans, The Struggles for Wisconsin Proved to be too much, But Many Keep Optimism

Despite the victory for the Wisconsin football team, the Badgers struggled at times to play fundamental football. In particular, the defense struggled at times and allowed more total yards than the Wisconsin offense gained. The Badgers still walked away with the victory but may have done so without fixing their issues at hand.

the Milwaukee Brewers are currently winning by more points than the Wisconsin Badgers

— Carter 🌪️ (@IowaStCarter) September 23, 2023

The Wisconsin Badgers football team are incapable of playing a full game. It is actually against the law.

— Basketball, no specific team, Fan (@drewhamm5) September 23, 2023

#Wisconsin #Badgers #football Defense looking soft 👀 🏈

— Allen M Werner (@amwernercrystal) September 23, 2023

While we may have concerns about the Wisconsin offense not operating smoothly, they’ve surpassed 400 yards in three out of their four games.

Despite the mistakes, I’m coming around to how dangerous Phil Longo’s system can/will become when this thing clicks.#Badgers

— Dillon Graff (@DillonGraff) September 23, 2023

Injuries happen in football – it stinks – but that’s the truth of it.

How do the #Badgers compensate if Chez is out for a significant amount of time ?

– you can’t overload BA, we’ve seen what happens if you do
– more Acker / and mix in some Yac
– more passing/qb run game

— Ryan Harings (@RyanAndBucky) September 23, 2023

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The Wisconsin football program kicked off conference play with a bang, earning a 38-17 victory on the road against Purdue. It wasn’t a pretty or complete game by the Badgers, but UW did enough to come away with a win and head into the bye week at 3-1.

Here are my grades for Wisconsin’s offense, defense, and special teams in the Big Ten opener. 

Wisconsin Football Offense Grade: B

The offense was easily one of the biggest bright spots for Wisconsin in the win over Purdue, but I thought the way UW utilized Tanner Mordecai was one of the main reasons why. 

Mordecai isn’t your prototypical dual-threat quarterback, but he still possesses the ability to get out of the pocket and use his legs well. The sixth-year senior was able to run his way into the endzone twice while rushing for 58 yards. On top of that, Mordecai went 17-for-27 with 174 yards through the air. We’ve finally seen some glimpses of what Mordecai will be, and if he’s able to put the puzzle pieces together during the bye week, the Big Ten should look out. 

Of course, the biggest storyline coming out of this game was Chez Mellusi’s injury. He had to get an air cast put on, and the replay did not look good in the slightest. You just have to feel absolutely gutted for Mellusi, who has had his fair share of injury problems since coming to Madison. Though his time was cut short, the fifth-year senior put on a show alongside Braelon Allen, combining for 155 yards on the ground. Allen would also rush for two touchdowns. This game seemed to be a return to form for Allen after seemingly playing a step slow — and banged up — through the first few weeks of the season. 

Wisconsin also got some nice contributions from CJ Williams and Chimere Dike in the receiving game, but the drops by Skyler Bell and Will Pauling were a bit discouraging. Would like to see those cut down after the bye week. 

There was plenty to be happy about with Wisconsin’s performance, but it wasn’t a spectacular showing from the offense. Going forward, UW will need to cut down on the penalties (looking at you, Jack Nelson) and will need to put together a complete four quarters of offense. 

Wisconsin Football Defense Grade: C+

I’m not crazy about how Wisconsin’s defense performed against Purdue, but there were some bright spots. 

Ricardo Hallman and James Thompson Jr. were undoubtedly the stars on Wisconsin’s defense tonight. Hallman secured two interceptions on the night while also logging three tackles and two passes defended. Meanwhile, Thompson finished the night with six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and one pass defended. At two key positions, Wisconsin was able to get some crucial contributions from some key contributors.

It wasn’t all great, though. I’m going to be frank for a second here: I’m getting a little tired of seeing these big chunk plays given up by Wisconsin. It’s been a consistent problem for the past few weeks, and while there may have been some improvement tonight, there were still far too many big plays given up for my liking. 

There are still plenty of kinks to work out in Wisconsin’s defense, but this game seemed like a very small step in the right direction. Hopefully, Mike Tressel can have this group ready as they venture further into conference play. 

Wisconsin Football Special Teams Grade: A-

Wisconsin found themselves a good one in Ohio transfer Nathanial Vakos. The sophomore knocked through all three of his field goal attempts to remain perfect on the season. With his three on Friday night, he’s now 7-of-7 on three-point tries. 

Four games in, I have to say I’m very impressed with what Atticus Bertrams has brought to this team. He’s been a mark of consistency, and he had some damn good punts on Friday night. 

It was also great to see Chimere Dike run a couple of kicks back. The senior receiver had two returns for 34 yards and 39 yards, respectively. He’s shown that he can be a threat, and you’d love to see him break off a return for six at some point this year.

The only thing bringing this grade down was Jack Van Dyke’s kick out of bounds. This has now become a consistent issue for the kickoff specialist, as he’s sent three balls sailing out of bounds through four games. 

The Wisconsin football program is now off to a 3-1 start in the Luke Fickell era. The Badgers will head into the bye week before facing Rutgers on October 7th.

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Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers football team (3-1, 1-0 B1G) kicked off Big Ten play with a 38-17 victory over Ryan Walters and the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on Friday night. 

In this post-game recap, we dissect the performance of the Wisconsin Badgers by analyzing their snap counts and Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades for each position group — and include a few stats that help add context to the ole eye test. 

By analyzing these metrics, we can gain a clearer insight into the individual contributions of each unit to the team’s overall performance. While you can’t take these figures as gospel, this allows us to identify strengths, key contributors, and areas where Wisconsin football excelled.

Let’s dive in. 

Wisconsin Football Offensive Snap Counts & PFF Grades

Sep 22, 2023; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell high fives Wisconsin Badgers wide receiver C.J. Williams (4) during the first half at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Quarterbacks:

Tanner Mordecai – Snap Count: [75] – PFF Grade: [87.8]

Running Backs:

Braelon Allen – Snap Count: [41] – PFF Grade: [71.4]

Chez Mellusi – Snap Count: [32] – PFF Grade: [63.5]

Jackson Acker – Snap Count: [4] – PFF Grade: [61.6]

Wide Receivers:

Chimere Dike – Snap Count: [52] – PFF Grade: [64.0]

Bryson Green – Snap Count: [50] – PFF Grade: [51.3]

Will Pauling – Snap Count: [48] – PFF Grade: [64.4]

C.J. Williams – Snap Count: [45] – PFF Grade: [72.7]

Skyler Bell – Snap Count: [30] – PFF Grade: [53.3]

Tight Ends:

Hayden Rucci – Snap Count: [48] – PFF Grade: [37.2]

Tucker Ashcraft – Snap Count: [24] – PFF Grade: [50.9]

JT Seagreaves – Snap Count: [1] – PFF Grade: [60.0]

Offensive Line:

Jack Nelson – Snap Count: [75] – PFF Grade: [74.1]

Joe Huber – Snap Count: [54] – PFF Grade: [59.7]

Tanor Bortolini – Snap Count: [75] – PFF Grade: [71.4]

Michael Furtney – Snap Count: [51] – PFF Grade: [67.3]

Riley Mahlman – Snap Count: [75] – PFF Grade: [62.1]

Trey Wedig – Snap Count: [45] – PFF Grade: [74.4]

Offensive Analysis:

A few things that immediately stand out are that Wisconsin football PFF grades were much kinder to Jack Nelson than I would have guessed. He held up fine in protection — never allowing a pressure — but Nelson tacked on three more penalties — which is quickly becoming a problem. 

CJ Williams got involved in the Badgers offense in a major way, leading the team in targets (8) and receptions (5), plus he was second on the team in receiving yards (56) on the day. The USC transfer has a ton of upside, and it was nice to see how he could impact the game on the boundary as a possession receiver. 

Tanner Mordecai also put together a nice game for Wisconsin football against Purdue — particularly as a runner on Friday. The threat of him being a runner helped open up running lanes for Braelon Allen, who also put together a strong performance on the ground (16 carries, 116 yards + two touchdowns). That said, I’d hate to see him get dinged up because the Badgers lean on him too much — so that’s a situation to monitor. 

The Wisconsin Badgers tight ends had a forgettable night — and the numbers reflect that. Overall, I’m still confident this group can get the job done for this season, but I’m afraid they will have games like this on occasion.

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