Wisconsin has been waiting for this kind of start from Luke Fickell’s team, and against Michigan State, it finally showed up.
The Badgers opened with purpose and, through one half in Madison, were in control at 17-3. That mattered because slow starts have been the biggest complaint around this team all season. Outside of a decent first half against Notre Dame, Wisconsin had struggled to find any early rhythm, and that pattern had fans on edge again after shaky beginnings against Eastern Michigan and Penn State.
This time, though, the offense came out firing. Wisconsin scored on each of its first three drives and never let Michigan State settle in.
Colton Joseph was central to it all, looking better than he has at any point this season. He threw two touchdown passes and also led the team on the ground with 79 rushing yards.
Jacob Harris kept doing what he has done best lately: finding the end zone. The tight end caught two passes in the first half, and both went for touchdowns. That gives Harris the team’s three most recent receiving scores, and he has clearly become one of Joseph’s go-to options.
The defense did its part, too. Cooper Catalano once again set the tone, leading the team in tackles and adding timely pass breakups, including one on fourth down. Alongside Mason Posa, he has helped give Wisconsin a steady backbone on that side of the ball, and the unit has continued to keep the Badgers in every game they’ve played.
There is still another half to go, but Wisconsin has finally delivered the kind of opening fans had been asking for.
In Other News...
Wisconsin Just Won Again And The Poll Still Sent A Message
Wisconsin kept rolling with a 31-3 win over Michigan State, making it four straight for a team that has started to look more settled on both sides of the ball. Even so, the AP poll did not reward the Badgers with a spot in the Top 25, as they slid from the highest-ranked team in the receiving-votes group to No. 3 there instead.
The message from the voters was plain enough: the leap back into the rankings is still waiting, even after a lopsided conference win. Wisconsin gets a Week 6 bye to sort things out, then returns to face a ranked UCLA team in what should be a useful measuring-stick game for where the Badgers really stand. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsins PFF Grades Show One Big Reason To Feel Better
After taking care of Penn State on the road, Wisconsin backed it up at home against Michigan State and pushed its record to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. The latest Pro Football Focus grades offered another layer to the encouraging start, with several Badgers standing out in the kind of areas that tend to travel well in conference play, especially along the line on both sides of the ball.
The numbers pointed to real progress in pass blocking, run defense and pass rushing, the sort of across-the-board work that can make a team harder to play against as the schedule stiffens. Wisconsin still has plenty to prove, but the early return from those grades is hard to miss: this is a group getting better in the trenches, and that usually tells you something about how sustainable a start really is. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsins Big Ten Rise Suddenly Feels Real Under Luke Fickell
The Big Ten picture has started to look a lot different lately, and Wisconsin is a big reason why. In a league where the weekly rankings are being driven by recent results instead of preseason reputation, the Badgers have been part of the conversation as the race tightens around them. With Indiana at No. 1 and Ohio State still right there, the standings are being shaped by momentum as much as pedigree, which makes every recent win and loss feel bigger than usual.
For Luke Fickell, that shift matters because it gives Wisconsin a clearer sense of where it stands in a conference that has been anything but static. The Badgers are no longer just trying to keep pace with expectations from the outside. They are trying to turn this stretch into something more lasting, even as the leagues next round of games threatens to reshuffle the order again. [Read more 🡒]