Wisconsin Football Triumphs Over Rutgers: Here’s What Stood Out

In the first game following the bye week, Luke Fickell and the University of Wisconsin football team (4-1, 2-0 B1G) continued their winning streak, defeating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights with a final score of 24-13 at Camp Randall on Saturday afternoon.

By defeating Rutgers, Wisconsin has now become only the third team in conference history to achieve over 400 wins in Big Ten play, joining Ohio State and Michigan as the only programs to reach that milestone. 

Here are a few things that stood out from the Wisconsin Badgers week six victory over Greg Schiano and the Scarlet Knights. 

Wisconsin Football Cornerback Ricardo Hallman is a Ball Magnet 

With the Rutgers offense threatening Wisconsin, Ricardo Hallman did what he does best — get his hands on the football. But this time, he turned that interception into a 95-yard pick-six to extend UW’s lead to 17-0 with 0:04 left in the second quarter. 

ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 🤯@ricardohallman6 runs 95-yards for a pick six for @BadgerFootball

💻: Peacock pic.twitter.com/Z8JpyvABbM

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 7, 2023

Hallman’s interception off Gavin Wimsatt was already his fourth pick of the season — which leads the Badgers defense. The Florida native — while arguably best suited to play zone coverage — is quickly turning into a dynamic playmaker in the Wisconsin football secondary.

Wisconsin’s Defense Showed Signs of Life 

The Badgers defense, led by Mike Tressel, faced a challenging start in the season’s first four weeks. Missed tackles and a consistent issue with allowing chunk plays left Wisconsin football fans understandably disappointed with the team’s performance on the field.

However, Tressel’s defensive unit demonstrated significant improvement following the bye week. Against Rutgers, UW limited their opponent to just 275 total yards, marking their most impressive overall performance of the season. Moreover, they stifled Rutgers’ third-down attempts, allowing only two successful conversions out of 12 attempts for the afternoon.

The most encouraging takeaway was that the Wisconsin Badgers run defense, which has been poor thus far, held Rutgers rushing attack to just 64 yards on the ground on 2.9 yards per carry.

To their credit, Wisconsin’s defense has now limited opponents to 17 points or less in all four of their wins. 

Other Wisconsin Badgers Musings 

In limited opportunities, Jackson Acker gave Wisconsin football exactly what they needed behind Braelon Allen — a viable change of pace. He finished the game with 13 carries for 65 yards. I’m very interested to see how Acker performs against Iowa’s defense next week.

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On several occasions, starting center Tanor Bortolini had erratic snaps out of shotgun — and I thought Tanner Mordecai handled them well and limited damage. Jake Renfro’s potential return to the first-team offensive line is still a storyline I will continue to monitor.
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Will Pauling was a target monster (11) for the Wisconsin football offense. The speedy slot wideout caught a season-high eight passes for 68 yards and appeared to be the first read more often than not. He’s a playmaker who is often underutilized — I enjoyed seeing him be a focal point of the passing attack.
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Not a player — but an important observation and takeaway coming out of the bye week was that Wisconsin had only two penalties for 25 yards during Saturday’s matchup with Rutgers. That’s a huge step in the right direction.
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It was great to see true freshman tight end Tucker Ashcraft find paydirt — his first collegiate touchdown. There’s a lot of upside in Ashcraft’s game — tip of the cap.

Looking good, @BadgerFootball. 👏

TD from @ashcraft_tucker.

💻: Peacock pic.twitter.com/6lEgU1DwA2

— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) October 7, 2023

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