The Wisconsin Badgers are 2-0, and on paper that’s the kind of start every team wants. But the first two weeks of the 2026-27 season have also left plenty for Greg Gard’s group to clean up before the schedule tightens.
Denver and Delaware were supposed to be the soft landing spots - the kind of games where Wisconsin could pile up points, settle in and build some rhythm. Instead, both opponents hung around and kept the Badgers in single digits, which exposed some early cracks in Madison even as Wisconsin still found a way to win both games.
The encouraging part for the Badgers is that the defense has mostly done its job. Outside of a few Denver runs sparked by Carson Johnson and some uneven stretches against Delaware, Wisconsin has kept games relatively low-scoring. Victory Onuetu has been a big part of that on the interior, while Nolan Winter, Eian Elmer, Owen Foxwell and Jack Janicki have all helped protect their space.
The real concern is on the other end, where Wisconsin is looking for answers in a place fans aren’t used to seeing problems: half-court offense.
For the last two seasons, the Badgers could lean on John Tonje, Nick Boyd or John Blackwell when possessions got sticky. That safety valve hasn’t shown up yet this year.
Through two games, Wisconsin has only had six isolation possessions, scored on one of them and turned it over twice. The spot-up numbers have also dipped hard, with the Badgers sitting in the 36th percentile after ranking in the 96th percentile a year ago.
Pick-and-roll has been the one area where Wisconsin has found some traction, grading out in the 82nd percentile. Even there, though, the production comes with some warning signs. Foxwell is driving that action, and when he’s off the floor, Wisconsin’s shooting in pick-and-roll situations drops by nearly 6%.
Foxwell’s play against Delaware stood out, with 16 points, six assists, two rebounds and no turnovers in 29 minutes, plus a game-high plus-25. He’s already giving Wisconsin a steady hand, but the setup isn’t bulletproof. His left-hand-heavy style can be schemed against, and the bigger bodies Wisconsin will see in the Big Ten could make some of the easy looks for the bigs harder to come by.
There’s also a sense that some of the frontcourt issues are still fixable. Winter and Rapp are still learning how to fit into the new system, while Onuetu is settling into a larger role and continuing to build chemistry with Foxwell.
Still, the trend is real, and it matters. Wisconsin has survived the opening stretch, but the offense hasn’t looked nearly as smooth as the record suggests, and the road ahead only gets tougher from here.
In Other News...
Luke Fickell Just Put Wisconsins Biggest Offensive Frustration On Blast
After the Rutgers game, Luke Fickell sounded encouraged by what Wisconsin got from Ryan Hopkins at quarterback, but he made it just as clear that the offense still has a problem it has not solved. The Badgers have been trying to find a rhythm on the ground, and Fickell pointed directly to the need to create more space for the running backs and get them more involved.
That frustration has been hanging over the offense for a while, especially with the running game failing to live up to expectations. For Wisconsin, the issue is bigger than one game or one quarterback change, because the staff still has to figure out how to build a rushing attack that can actually carry the offense forward. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsins Defensive Rotation Took A Notable Turn Against Rutgers
Wisconsins defense looked more like the version the Badgers have been chasing all fall in the Week 10 win over Rutgers, and the snap counts tell part of the story. The unit was far more disruptive, finishing with eight tackles-for-loss and five sacks while holding Rutgers to 161 passing yards and just 2.6 yards per carry, a strong outing that came with some noticeable shuffling in how the front and linebacker groups were deployed.
The rotation along the defensive line and at linebacker changed enough to stand out from previous weeks, and the participation data points to a staff that is still searching for the right mix as the season moves on. For Wisconsin, the encouraging part is not just the production against Rutgers, but the possibility that the defense may have found a formula worth leaning on again as bigger tests keep coming. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Just Got The Reset Fans Needed And Now One Debate Starts
A much-needed reset finally arrived for Wisconsin on Saturday, and it came with the kind of complete performance the Badgers had been searching for. The 31-10 win over Rutgers not only pushed Wisconsin to 6-2, it also secured bowl eligibility for the first time in three years, a milestone that had been hanging over the program as the season unfolded.
Ryan Hopkins first career start gave the day an added layer of intrigue, and the true freshman showed enough promise to make his development a real talking point going forward. The defense did its part too, piling up five sacks and making life miserable for Rutgers on third downs, which leaves Wisconsin with a familiar next question: how much can this win say about the teams ceiling if Hopkins keeps growing and the pass rush stays this disruptive? [Read more 🡒]