Wisconsin is five games into the season, and the Badgers have already given fans enough to argue about.
They took the expected loss to Notre Dame in the opener, then rattled off four straight wins, capped by the road upset of then-No. 13 Penn State.
That’s a pretty strong place to be heading into a Week 6 bye. But the real test is still ahead: a trip to Los Angeles to face UCLA, a home date with USC, and then a Halloween road game at Iowa.
That three-game run will tell a lot about what this team really is.
For now, though, there’s enough on the September tape to sort through a few hot takes and see which ones actually hold up.
The ground game has drawn plenty of attention, especially after Wisconsin rolled up 228 rushing yards against Michigan State in a homecoming win. But that number needs some context.
Colton Joseph accounted for 141 of those yards himself, while the tailbacks combined for 83. Joseph leads the team with 262 rushing yards at 5.1 yards per carry and has scored three times.
The four backs who have carried the ball - Darrion Dupree, Abu Sama, Bryan Jackson and Nate Palmer - have combined for 490 yards on 102 carries, which comes out to 4.8 yards per attempt.
That’s not nothing, but it also hasn’t turned Wisconsin into a punishing run-first machine yet. The Badgers rank 79th nationally in rushing at 153.0 yards per game.
And outside of Abu Sama’s 72-yard touchdown on the first snap against FCS Western Illinois, the longest run by a Wisconsin running back is 28 yards. So yes, there’s room to grow.
No, the run game is not a full-blown problem.
Joseph is a different kind of conversation. The excitement around him is easy to understand.
He’s fast, he’s a dynamic runner, he can make NFL-level throws, and he brings a kind of playmaking edge most quarterbacks simply don’t have. But the flaws are there too, and they show up in the numbers.
He’s tied with 11 other quarterbacks for the fourth-most “turnover-worthy plays” in the country with eight. He threw five interceptions through five games this fall, and last year at Old Dominion he was charged with 14 turnovers, including 10 picks and four lost fumbles.
He hasn’t lost a fumble yet this season, but the good and the bad still travel together with him.
Up front, the left tackle situation looks a lot more settled than it did a few weeks ago. PJ Wilkins struggled in pass protection through the first four games and lost the starting job in Week 5 against Michigan State.
Kevin Heywood moved over to the blindside, Emerson Mandell shifted back to right tackle, where he spent most of last season, and D-II transfer Stylz Blackmon appears ready to take over full-time at right guard. Against Michigan State’s weak defensive front, the new setup worked.
The bigger question is how it holds up from here, but for now, the left tackle problem looks solved by Heywood.
The pass rush is a more complicated story, but not one that should be mistaken for a concern about the wrong player. David “Cheeks” is the nation’s leader in pressures with 27, even though he has only 2.5 sacks.
He’s still been the engine of the rush, forcing quarterbacks into problems and creating plenty of other impact plays. The issue is what comes behind him.
Tyreese Fearbry is second on the team with seven pressures, while Mason Posa and DeNigel Cooper each have six. Wisconsin has one clear alpha off the edge, and that’s not ideal.
It’s also better than having none at all. Mike Tressel will need to keep manufacturing pressure with his inside linebackers, and there’s room for more blitz work from nickel Bryce West, who has one pressure and one quarterback hit.
At receiver, Wisconsin has answered one of its biggest preseason questions. That matters because the Badgers came into 2026 with almost no proven production and a patchwork group of transfers.
Instead, several players have already shown they can handle real roles. Malachi Coleman broke out against Notre Dame and flashed NFL traits.
Chris Brooks Jr has made noticeable progress in his final year. Eugene Hilton Jr has been quieter, but his touchdown against Penn State was a reminder of why he drew so much attention in camp.
Tyrell Henry then set the Wisconsin single-game receptions record.
Put that group together, and Wisconsin has a workable receiving corps even without Shamar Rigby and Jaylon Domingeaux, the two most productive incoming transfer receivers, doing much yet. For this offense, that’s enough firepower.
In Other News...
Wisconsins Guard Room Just Took An Early Hit Fans Didnt Want
Wisconsins backcourt depth took an early hit when freshman guard Josh Manchester suffered a shoulder injury in practice and had to undergo successful surgery. The late roster addition was never expected to be a major minutes source this season, but he still represented another body in a guard room that the Badgers hoped would give them options as the year unfolded.
Instead, Manchester will miss the entire 2026-27 basketball season, leaving Wisconsin with 13 active players for the upcoming campaign. For a team that has already had to piece together its rotation this offseason, the loss trims away a bit more margin before the first practice reps even turn into games. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Just Opened A New Recruiting Question At Edge
Wisconsins 2027 recruiting class took a hit when three-star edge rusher Darin Graham announced on social media that he has decommitted. Graham had pledged during his official visit in June, and at the time he picked the Badgers over several Power 4 programs, making him one of the more notable early pieces in the class.
His exit trims Wisconsins 2027 group to 22 committed players and leaves a fresh question at edge as the class continues to take shape. The Badgers do have other commitments and some roster depth at the position, so the bigger issue now is whether they keep looking for more pass-rush help or decide to stand pat and build elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsins Second Half Just Became A Bigger Test Than Expected
Wisconsins second half is looking a lot less forgiving than it did when the schedule was first laid out. A scan from Week 7 through Week 13 shows a run of games that now includes multiple ranked opponents, forcing the Badgers to navigate a stretch that feels heavier than preseason projections suggested. What once looked like a manageable finish now reads more like a week-to-week exam, with each matchup carrying a different level of difficulty depending on how the teams involved have performed.
The interesting part for Wisconsin is how quickly the outlook can shift once rankings and current form enter the picture. Some of those upcoming games still fit the original expectation, while others have clearly become tougher, and a few remain closer to even than they first appeared. For a team trying to survive the back half of the year in good shape, the margin for error gets a lot slimmer when the schedule starts stacking opponents that are already proving to be better than advertised. [Read more 🡒]