The Badgers enjoyed early success, but couldn't maintain it in a 24-10 loss to No. 20 Michigan on Saturday at Michigan Stadium.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. – Moving quarterback Hunter Simmons into the starting lineup gave the Wisconsin football team a spark, but it wasn’t nearly enough to propel the Badgers to an upset on the road Saturday, Oct. 4.
UW dropped its third straight game, falling to No. 20 Michigan, 24-10, in front of a crowd of 111,070 at Michigan Stadium.
The game marked the fifth for the Badgers when No. 1 quarterback Billy Edwards played little or not at all. Danny O’Neil was playing in Edwards' place, but this week coach Luke Fickell turned to Simmons, who had an impressive stint at the end of UW’s loss to Maryland on Sept. 20.
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The Southern Illinois transfer had a solid day. He completed 18 of 29 passes for 177 yards.
The UW offense, however, struggled after that first possession. The Badgers gained 75 yards on that possession but finished the day with 252 total yards.
The defense put up a fight, but without much help from the offense wore down as the game went on. Michigan finished with 444 yards, 303 in the second half.
Bryce Underwood, the Wolverines’ star freshman quarterback, completed 19 of 28 passes for 270 yards and one touchdown. Junior running back Justice Haynes, the nation’s No. 3 rusher, finished with 29 carries, 117 yards and two touchdowns.
Here are five takeaways from the loss, which dropped Wisconsin to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten.
Solid results from offensive line shuffle
Quarterback wasn't the only change for Wisconsin.
The offensive line shuffled continued. Davis Heinzen, who started Game 1 at left tackle before getting benched, got his first start at center and Kerry Kodanko, a backup center, played right guard, the position he manned with the No. 1 unit during spring ball.
The change resulted in some early success with the run game. The group also allowed just one sack, which came late in the fourth quarter.
For a unit that has been struggling, this was a step forward.
Replay reversal looms large
Michigan’s longest play of the second half almost was an incompletion that would have been much needed for the UW defense.
Working out of the shotgun Underwood threw a pass along the sideline to Donovan McCulley that McCulley initially appeared to catch out of bounds.
Then the play was reviewed and reversed for a 33-yard gain that resulted in a first down at the UW 34. Based on the replays shown on television, the play could have gone either way. The completion flipped the field.
Two snaps later McCulley bounced off a couple of defenders on the way to a 29-yard touchdown reception that pushed the Wolverines’ lead to 17-7 with 4:11 left in the third quarter.
A special teams mistake hurt. Again.
For the second straight game a bust in punt protection came back to bite the Badgers. Atticus Bertrams’ punt with about 9 minutes left in the first half was blocked by Troy Bowles. The kick went just 32 yards and gave Michigan a first down at their 34.
That was the Wolverines’ best starting position by 9 yards in the first half, and they made the most of it. Eight plays and 44 yards later, Dominic Zvada drilled a 40-yard field goal that gave Michigan a 10-7 lead with 5:43 go in the first half.
Quarterback Hunter Simmons’ early poise impressive
It’s one thing to lead a team to a score during the waning minutes of a game that was already decided as Simmons did against Maryland on Sept. 20.
Helping the Badgers put together their best opening drive of the season was next level.
Simmons completed his first three attempts for 36 yards during a 12-play, 75-yard drive that took 6:50 off the clock. The drive marked the first game this season Wisconsin scored on its opening possession and it gave the team its first lead against a Power Four opponent since a 16-13 loss to Oregon last November.
Bad decisions that led to interceptions stoked Alabama’s and Maryland’s momentum during the last two games. Simmons avoided those types of mistakes and thus gave the Badgers a chance.
UW defense allowed three big plays in the first half. Two of them hurt.
The big play has been an Achilles heel for the Badgers defense. Saturday they limited the huge gains they allowed versus Maryland and Alabama, but allowed three explosives play before the half against Michigan. Two of those plays led to points.
Justice Haynes’ 43-yard run on the Wolverines’ first drive led to his 1-yard touchdown run at the 6:02 mark of the first quarter.
And in the second quarter, a 32-yard pass from Bryce Underwood to Andrew Marsh gave the Wolverines a first down at the UW 23 and led to a 40-yard field goal by Dominic Zvada with 5:43 left in the first half.
Those two plays accounted for 75 of Michigan's 142 yards in the first half.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michigan 24, Wisconsin 10: 5 takeaways from UW's third straight loss
Category: General Sports
