Wisconsin Football: Report Card From Blowout Loss to Illinois
BadgerNotes grades the offense, defense, and coaching performances from Saturday's latest embarrassing loss:
Madison, Wis. – Head coach Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badgers (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten), who entered the game seven-point favorites, lost their second straight contest in embarrassing fashion on Saturday.
UW was blown out 34-10 at Camp Randall Stadium, where I can comfortably say they were out ‘Wisconsined’ by Illinois.
Getting manhandled by the Buckeyes on the road is one thing, but losing to Bret Bielema and Illinois at home, nonetheless, is downright unacceptable. It will undoubtedly force Badger fans to reevaluate the program’s expectations for this season and beyond.
The programs are essentially carbon copies of one another, at least stylistically, so it was rather disheartening to see the Illini beat Wisconsin at their own game. So convincingly, I might add.
Let’s be honest with ourselves; the Badgers have been outscored by its opponents 89-31 in Big Ten play – so it’s hard to find many positives right now.
Below, Badgernotes grades Wisconsin’s performance, or lack thereof, against Illinois:
Offense: F
Quarterback Graham Mertz quickly got into a rhythm on the first drive. He came out firing, going 4-for-4 on his pass attempts for 54 yards, finishing it off with a beautiful 21-yard touchdown throw to senior running back Isaac Guerendo.
Things were looking good. Little did I know, that’s where the positives were going to end. Wisconsin had a terrific opening drive, and that was essentially it.
Bobby Engram’s offense managed just 208 total yards (206 passing, 2 rushing) – the Badgers’ lowest offensive output since 2016.
The offensive line, in my opinion, looked overmatched all day and was bullied by the Illini’s front seven – giving up six total sacks. Credit to Bielema’s defense, they played great, but it’s concerning that one of Wisconsin’s perceived strengths could be so utterly dominated.
Mertz cooled off after his hot start and finished the game 17-of-31 for 206 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He made several errant throws and was clearly not the best version of himself.