The Wisconsin football team responded to the tough loss to Wazzu in Week 2 by defeating Georgia Southern in Week 3.
It may not have been pretty in the first half (again), but the second half looked a lot more like the team we expected to see heading into the season. They dominated on both sides of the ball. The defense actually did extremely well the entire game. It just took the offense a half to get going, which has been a trend we’ve seen in all three games so far this season. But (!) they did get rolling nonetheless.
So let’s get into it. Which Wisconsin football players earned a helmet sticker for their performance in the Badgers’ Week 3 win against the Georgia Southern Eagles?
Wisconsin Football vs. Georgia Southern Helmet Sticker No. 1:
Hunter Wohler
If it seems like Hunter Wohler is getting a helmet sticker every week, it’s because he is. He has been everywhere on defense this year, both figuratively and literally.
According to PFF, Wohler played a total of 78 defensive snaps. Of those 78 snaps, 49 were in the box, 16 were at the slot corner, eight were on the defensive line, four were at free safety and one was at the boundary corner position. He played literally everywhere on the field.
Figuratively, it felt like he was every and in on every play. For the third week in a row, Wohler led the Wisconsin football team in tackles. He had 10 total tackles. Five were solo and he had a sack as well.
If that wasn’t enough, he also had two of the five Wisconsin interceptions on the day, including this beauty that he tracked all the way and made a hell of a play, saving the Badgers from giving up a game-tying touchdown in the third quarter.
After this pick, the Badgers went 80 yards in ten plays and scored a touchdown before the end of the quarter, putting Bucky up 28-14 to start the fourth and they never looked back.
Hunter Wohler is really playing well right now and should be considered one of the top defensive players in the Big Ten. In fact, he even proved it by earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Wohler gets a sticker (again).
Wisconsin Football vs. Georgia Southern Helmet Sticker No. 2:
Tanner Mordecai
Some fans may not be impressed with what Tanner Mordecai has brought to Wisconsin so far. That’s fine. That’s totally understandable. But again, we are three weeks into actual gameplay with a completely new offense, a new quarterback, and a bunch of new receivers. This is going to take some time.
So while Mordecai hasn’t been putting up big numbers in the passing game like we’d all hoped we’d see, he is still finding ways to be effective. Through three games, he is completing 67.8% of his passes. That’s not bad. His career average is 66.9%, so he is still performing in that regard. He’s just not throwing a ton of touchdowns because he has Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi in the backfield.
He is averaging 234 passing yards per game. Last year, the Wisconsin offense mustered just 183 yards per game. So again, we are upgrading.
But he made a lot of plays with his legs yesterday. He rushed for two touchdowns, including this 18-yard scamper to put the Badgers up in the third quarter.
So while some fans may be getting frustrated that this offense isn’t putting up video game numbers against inferior teams, just keep in mind that this is a process. He looks a lot better than he did against Buffalo just two weeks ago.
Wisconsin Football vs. Georgia Southern Helmet Sticker No. 3:
Braelon Allen
It was pretty interesting to me when Chez Mellusi got the start on Saturday. After being used very sparingly against Washington State, there were a lot of questions about why the offense was refusing to use the best offensive player on the team.
Turns out, Allen is a little banged up and it was questionable as to whether he’d even play on Saturday.
Lucky for the Wisconsin football team, he did play.
While he still didn’t get a ton of carries, that may have been for the best. If he is banged up, don’t risk running him into the ground against Georgia Southern when Purdue is waiting for the Badgers to come to town next week. He carried the ball a total of 12 times, but he made them count. He had 94 yards on the ground, averaging 7.8 yards per carry and he found the end zone twice.
When the Badgers were down 14-7 early in the 3rd quarter, Allen jump-started the Wisconsin offense, busting off a 32-yard run that got them deep into the Eagles’ territory.
The drive would ultimately end in an Allen 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
Even when he isn’t at 100%, Allen is still a very productive football player. Allen gets his second helmet sticker of the season.
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