Wisconsin’s first quarter against Eastern Michigan had all the old warning signs. The Badgers opened flat, gave up a touchdown on the first defensive series, then watched their first two offensive possessions stall with a turnover on downs and an interception from Colton Joseph.
Then everything flipped.
Wisconsin blew the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 28-0 and rolling to a 54-10 win that felt a lot more like the kind of response Luke Fickell needed. The turnaround gave the Badgers a much-needed reset in Week 3, and the biggest reasons were easy to spot: Joseph settled in, the defense finally started taking the ball away, and the offense did enough even without a huge ground game.
Joseph’s start was rough. Eight minutes into the first quarter, he was 3-of-7 passing with an interception, and the early mistakes were exactly the sort of accuracy issues that have followed him.
He short-armed Eugene Hilton Jr on the pick, nearly got burned again on a crossing route to Emmett Bork while rolling right, and missed on a possible touchdown to Bork. He also overthrew Chris Brooks Jr. on a deep ball, though that play would have come back for holding anyway.
But after that, Joseph looked like the version Wisconsin has been hoping for. He finished 23-of-33 for 363 yards, three passing touchdowns and the one interception, while adding 46 rushing yards and a score on the ground.
He hit Tyrell Henry for a 13-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone, one of several sharp throws in a day that also included nine passing plays of 15 yards or more. He finally found the end zone on the ground too, sneaking in on a four-yard keeper off a zone read.
He’s still not a polished, surgical passer. That’s not the player he is. But through three games, he’s clearly giving Wisconsin better quarterback play than it had before.
The run game never really took off, even if the final numbers looked a little healthier because the game was basically decided by halftime. Wisconsin finished with 117 rushing yards on 30 carries, a 3.9-yard average, and its longest run was a 19-yard Joseph scramble. Abu Sama didn’t play after getting banged up against Western Illinois, and while Eastern Michigan’s defensive front deserves credit for battling all game, the Badgers still would have liked more on the ground after Michigan State ran for 258 yards against the Eagles the week before.
The biggest swing came on defense, where Wisconsin finally got the turnovers it had been chasing. Eastern Michigan quarterback Noah Kim entered the game tied for third in the nation with six turnover-worthy plays, while the Badgers had yet to force a takeaway. That changed when Mason Posa drifted into coverage after lining up in the A-gap and picked off Kim by reading his eyes.
Matt Jung added another takeaway by wrestling the ball away from tight end Joshua Long at the catch point. Then, to start the third quarter, Sebastian Cheeks sacked Kim, the ball came loose, and Cooper Catalano scooped it up for an easy touchdown.
Wisconsin finished with seven tackles-for-loss and two sacks, and Tressel’s defense looked far more disruptive than it had in the early part of the season.
In Other News...
Wisconsin Fans Have A New Abu Sama Question After Week 3
Wisconsins backfield took on a different look in Week 3 against Eastern Michigan, and not in a way the Badgers probably wanted. Abu Sama was cleared to play, but the coaching staff held him out in a game-time decision, leaving the team to piece together its ground game without the star tailback. The result was a rushing effort that never really got untracked, with quarterback Colton Joseph leading the way on the ground and the tailbacks combining for only modest production.
Luke Fickell said the call came down to Samas readiness and the conditions surrounding the game, which only adds to the intrigue around what comes next. For a Wisconsin offense that leans on the run, the question now is less about why Sama sat out on this particular afternoon and more about how the staff plans to handle him moving forward if the Badgers want a more reliable answer in the backfield. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Fans Just Got Another Reason To Debate The Quarterback Choice
Billy Edwards Jr. and Colton Joseph gave Wisconsin fans plenty to chew on after a recent game, with the two quarterbacks producing very different nights. Edwards finished 13 of 30 for one touchdown and one interception, and his late pick helped seal North Carolina's loss to Clemson, while Joseph was much sharper in Wisconsin's own attack, going 23 of 33 with three touchdown passes and 46 rushing yards.
For a fan base already willing to debate the position, the contrast was hard to miss. Joseph kept the Badgers moving with multiple touchdown drives, while Edwards' uneven showing added more fuel to the conversation about consistency and decision-making under pressure, the kind of comparison that tends to linger long after the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Gets One More Chance To Fix What Showed Up Last Week
After last weeks showing, Wisconsin gets a much softer landing spot as it turns to Eastern Michigan, and the Journal Sentinels John Steppe and Mark Stewart are both expecting the Badgers to handle business with room to spare. It is the kind of game that can either steady a team or simply confirm the problems everyone already saw, which is why the gap in talent and the betting market both make this one feel more like a checkpoint than a true test.
The bigger question for Wisconsin is not whether it can win, but what the Badgers look like while doing it. A lopsided result would be the cleanest way to move past the frustration from a week ago and get some traction before the schedule tightens, with Wisconsins 2026 slate already part of the broader picture around the program. For now, though, this matchup offers one more chance to show that last week was an outlier and not a warning sign. [Read more 🡒]