Badgers report card: Rushing offense, defense shine in victory
If BYU represented the toughest remaining test on
Wisconsin's schedule, then the Badgers aced the exam like honor roll students.
During Wisconsin's 27-17 victory against BYU on Saturday at Camp Randall
Stadium, the Badgers held the Cougars two touchdowns below their season
average.
Wisconsin (7-2, 4-1 in Big Ten play) returns to conference
play this week against Indiana and can feel awfully good about itself in the
wake of a fourth straight win.
Handing out grades for Wisconsin's performance in Game 9:
Passing offense: B
Badgers quarterback Joel Stave continues to do just enough
in the passing game to keep defenses honest. And right now, that's enough to
help Wisconsin run its winning streak to four games.
On Saturday, Stave completed 23 of 32 passes for 196 yards
with one touchdown and one interception. His 5-yard touchdown pass to running
back James White just before halftime gave Stave his 16th touchdown of the
season, which ties him for ninth on the all-time single-season list at UW.
Stave did a nice job of finding some of his secondary
options in the offense. He hit tight end Jacob Pedersen six times as Pedersen
became a bigger threat down the field. White caught six passes, Kenzel Doe two
and Jordan Fredrick one. Standout receiver Jared Abbrederis caught eight passes
for 67 yards, as well.
But there were at least a few plays Stave would have loved
to get back. He had a pass intercepted by BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy at the
Cougars' 40-yard-line early in the second quarter. BYU, which trailed 7-3 at
the time, did not score on the ensuing possession, so it didn't cost the
Badgers.
Stave also missed Abbrederis on two separate passes that
should have been touchdowns. The first came when he underthrew Abbrederis
inside the BYU 20 and the ball was tipped by Cougars safety Daniel Sorensen.
And in the third quarter, Stave overshot Abbrederis down the field, even though
Abbrederis was wide open in the left corner of the end zone.
Rushing offense: A-minus
For a second straight game, it was primarily the James White
show on the ground for Wisconsin. White accounted for 194 yards of total
offense, with 147 yards rushing and 47 receiving on a career-best six catches.
He ran for touchdowns of 4 and 14 yards and caught the 5-yard scoring pass from
Stave.
White now has 46 career touchdowns and ranks fourth in
career rushing touchdowns (43) at Wisconsin. He trails only Montee Ball (77),
Ron Dayne (71) and Billy Marek (44) -- not a bad list to be on for White.
Melvin Gordon also put together a solid game, though it
wasn't of the 100-yard, two-touchdown variety many have grown accustomed to
seeing this season. He finished with 19 carries for 86 yards and actually
carried the ball four fewer times fewer than White.
Gordon still ranks No. 7 nationally in rushing yards per
game (128.9), while White has crept up to No. 21 in the country (105.7). No
other running back duo in the country has two players averaging more than 100
yards per game this season.
Passing defense: B-plus
BYU quarterback Taysom Hill completed just 19 of 41 passes
for 207 yards, although he did toss two touchdowns with an interception. Hill
was held 45 yards below his season passing average. And the Badgers did a nice
job of not allowing BYU to reach its vaunted 90 plays per game average, as
well. The Cougars ran a total of 81 plays on Saturday.
Safety Tanner McEvoy recorded the first interception of his
career during the first quarter on a Hill throw and finished with five tackles
in the game.
Hill did throw touchdowns of 34 and 5 yards to receiver Cody
Hoffman, who caught a total of seven passes for 113 yards. But overall, it was
a solid performance from Wisconsin's defense. Consider that the Cougars entered
the game averaging 511.1 yards of offense per game. Wisconsin held BYU to 370
yards, the Cougars' second-lowest output of the year, trailing only the
362-yard output at Virginia on Aug. 31.
Rushing defense: A
Hill entered the game averaging 105.0 yards rushing. He was
held to 53 on 17 carries against the Badgers, which set the tone for the game.
BYU had been averaging 258.8 yards rushing per game, but Wisconsin limited the
Cougars to 163 yards on the ground, their second-lowest total of the season.
(BYU ran for 159 yards against Utah State on Oct. 4).
As a team, BYU carried the ball 39 times for 163 yards -- a
yards-per-carry average of 4.2. And most importantly, Wisconsin kept the
Cougars' runners out of the end zone. BYU has rushed for 16 touchdowns this
season.
The overall play of the defense was excellent, and some of
that praise should go to Chris Borland and Michael Caputo. Borland, playing for
the first time since suffering an Oct. 19 hamstring injury, recorded a
team-best 13 tackles. He also tallied two sacks, which tied a career high.
Caputo, meanwhile, notched a career-high 12 tackles. His
previous best of 10 came against Arizona State earlier this season.
Special teams: B
We must start with kicker Jack Russell, who finally made the
first (and second) field goals of his career. Russell drilled tries from 38 and
26 yards, and it was an encouraging sign for the sophomore. He began the day 0
for 4 in his career, but he has shown patience and maintained his confidence
over the past few weeks since taking over the starting job from Kyle French.
On kick coverage, Wisconsin performed at a high level, as
well. BYU return man Adam Hine had been third in the country in return-yard
average (31.9). Against the Badgers, he didn't have a return that went for
longer than 29 yards, which dropped him to No. 5 nationally (28.8 yards per
return).
Kenzel Doe didn't have the same problems he experienced one
week earlier against Iowa on punt returns. He brought one punt back 26 yards to
set up Russell's second field goal during the third quarter.
Overall: A-minus
BYU wanted to push the pace against Wisconsin, but the
Badgers controlled the tempo. Wisconsin maintained control of the ball for
36:02 compared to BYU's 23:58. And though they didn't run as many plays -- BYU
had 81 to Wisconsin's 77 -- the Badgers made their drives count.
Wisconsin has now won four consecutive games and appears
primed to close out the season with seven straight victories. A home game
against Indiana is up next, followed by what is turning out to be an unusually
interesting showdown with border rival Minnesota (8-2), which has also won four
in a row. For now, though, the Badgers can enjoy an important win against a
talented BYU team.
