Wisconsin traveled to Indiana for Saturday or they were supposed to. Doesn’t seem like they showed up at all. Indiana entered the game winless in the B1G and left with their first win.
The Badgers offense was down its top two running backs and starting quarterback. Sophomore Cade Yacamelli and freshman Jackson Acker did well in Braelon Allen’s absence but were no comparison to the three-year starter. A fourth-quarter fumble by Cade was also less than fortunate. Freshman quarterback Braedyn Locke struggled missing almost 50% of his freshman passes. So big miscues cost the Badgers as they managed to get into Indiana territory seven times but could only reach pay dirt twice. Penalties also plagued the offense all game, killing a few drives. One hold, one false, and one delay game on third down play effectively killed three drives while another hold on a second down made the down and distances harder to manage.
The offense wasn’t solely to blame for this loss. Defensively the Badgers came out flat and were a missed field goal away from allowing 10 points in the first two drives. 17 in the first half was enough for Indiana to claim victory. Penalties also plagued the defense as three pass interference extended Hoosier drives.
This team is in a rebuilding process with a new head coach. Those cardinal and white faithful who didn’t think there would be growing pains were fooling themselves. A loss to Indiana isn’t ideal but missing key players didn’t help but doesn’t excuse the execution issues.
James