Colton Joseph’s second game in a Wisconsin uniform didn’t look nearly as smooth as his debut, but there’s a reason the Badgers aren’t sounding any alarms yet.
Against Notre Dame, Joseph flashed the tools that made him intriguing in the first place: competitive energy, real mobility and enough arm talent to suggest there’s more upside coming. He wasn’t perfect - the pick-six he threw straight to a Fighting Irish cornerback stood out - but he still finished with 217 passing yards and a touchdown on 19-of-29 passing against one of the best defenses in the country. That was enough to leave Wisconsin encouraged.
Week 2 against Western Illinois was a different story. Even in a matchup against an FCS opponent, Joseph looked less comfortable and less consistent. The Badgers did get a few bright spots from him, especially on their final scoring drive, when he went 84 yards through the air on two throws, including a connection with Tyrell Henry and a run-and-catch score by Chris Brooks Jr.
There were a couple of other useful plays, too, like a 3rd-and-12 completion to Henry to keep a drive alive. But the misses carried more weight than the makes. Joseph was off target too often in the first half, and the most glaring example came early on the Badgers’ second drive when he missed an open Jacob Harris in the end zone by putting the ball just a little too high for the 6-6 tight end.
That wasn’t the only errant throw. Joseph was also off to Harris, Malachi Coleman and Henry at different points, and his final throw before halftime was especially rough - a pass to Henry that sailed so badly it should have been intercepted by the Leathernecks.
The encouraging part for Wisconsin is that Joseph’s decision-making has held up through two games. He’s generally reading things correctly and keeping his eyes where they need to be.
He doesn’t look rattled, and he isn’t bailing out of the pocket the second his first option disappears. That matters.
What still needs work is the mechanics. Too many of his throws are just a little off - a touch high, a bit low, slightly behind the target. Against better defenses, those are the kinds of misses that get punished fast.
Joseph also had a small step forward as a runner, though his ground production still stayed modest at 33 yards on four carries. Whenever he did decide to tuck the ball, it worked. Western Illinois clearly made an effort to keep him contained and may have nudged him toward handing off more on read-option looks, but the bigger point is that Wisconsin still hasn’t built much of the game plan around Joseph as a runner.
That part stands out. He’s showing he can operate from the pocket, and that’s a positive. But there also haven’t been many designed chances to get him into space.
After a rough first half, Joseph did settle in a bit once Wisconsin leaned harder on the run game and took some pressure off him. He made some better throws in the second half, and while it was strange not to see more of that at Lambeau Field, there’s at least room to wonder whether his first game at Camp Randall brought some jitters.
The bottom line is simple: the arm talent is there, and the decision-making has been strong. Joseph isn’t making reckless choices.
The bigger issue right now is ball placement. Clean that up, and this passing game can become dangerous.
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The disconnect is what makes Allen such an interesting name to track from Wisconsins side. His weekly output suggests a player doing far more than just holding serve against expectations, and it raises the familiar recruiting question of whether some prospects are being judged more by ranking inertia than by what they keep showing on the field. For the Badgers, the appeal is obvious: if he keeps producing at this rate, the debate around where he belongs nationally is only going to get louder. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Is Proving It Can Survive Early Tests The Hard Way
Wisconsins volleyball schedule has wasted no time asking for answers. The Badgers opened the season against four top-10 opponents and went 1-3 in that stretch, a gauntlet that could have shaken a lesser group. Instead, they steadied themselves at home with wins over No. 17 Florida and Auburn, moving to 3-3 while holding onto a No. 6 ranking and showing they can absorb early adversity without losing their place among the sports elite.
The latest test added another layer of proof, as Wisconsin handled No. 19 Texas A&M in a five-set match and kept building momentum ahead of a meeting with Texas. What has stood out so far is not just that the Badgers have survived the schedule, but that they have done it against ranked opponents in a way that keeps their rsum pointed in the right direction. The next challenge should say even more about where this team stands when the caliber of opponent only keeps rising. [Read more 🡒]