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The Wisconsin Badgers are looking to bounce back from a 41-13 loss last weekend against the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish when they take on the Western Illinois Leathernecks this weekend.
Wisconsin is coming off a week where they were competitive for the first 30 minutes before getting outscored 28-3 in the second half. They had a tale of two halves defensively, looking undisciplined and worn out after a strong first half against an elite team.
Offensively, the Badgers had their moments and looked better from their ugly numbers a year ago, but still showed there’s room for improvement in both the run and the passing game. Colton Joseph threw for 217 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, as offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes looked to make the game plan easy on him by getting the ball out of his hands quickly.
Wisconsin will look to carry that into Week 2, when they take on Western Illinois, who was blown out 41-10 by Illinois State this past week. The Leathernecks gave up 496 yards, including 239 yards on the ground, while struggling to run the ball themselves (52 yards, 2.3 yards per carry) and being undisciplined with penalties.
That game felt over by halftime, as Western Illinois trailed 27-3 at the break. Now, they get an even more difficult challenge in Week 2, and the odds have reflected that.
Wisconsin opened as a 36.5-point favorite, and that has bumped up to 37.5, while the total now sits at 50.5 points.
So, the odds project the Badgers to score around 44 points on Saturday, while their defense has a strong performance, which we saw flashes of in Week 1. If this version of the Badgers is going to exceed expectations, they need to do what good teams do: blow out the teams they’re supposed to.
That should be what happens on Saturday, but we’ve seen Wisconsin struggle against some of these non-conference opponents and not look as dominant as they should over the past few years.
Will they cover the hefty spread against Western Illinois? Let us know below by voting in our weekly Reacts poll, while sharing your thoughts in the comments!
