Wisconsin Badgers Football v. USF: Gut reactions

The Wisconsin Badgers put together a dominating performance against South Florida and here are my gut reactions from what we saw.

Although kickoff was delayed for about an hour or so due to lightning in the area, it sure was well worth the wait. This was about as complete of a performance that we could have hoped for in the Wisconsin Badgers’ season opener.

From offense to defense and even on special teams, this Badgers football team was firing on all cylinders and it led to a dominating performance that started from the opening kickoff and never really let up.

So let’s not waste any more time and dive into my gut reactions from Wisconsin’s first game against South Florida.

• Not that we didn’t already know this, but Jonathan Taylor is really, really good. Taylor finished the game with 135 rushing yards, two touchdowns and an average of 8.4 yards per carry.
• Speaking of Taylor, we have to mention his work in the passing game tonight. This is an aspect of his game that hasn’t been utilized and he put in a lot of work this offseason to prove that he can be a three-down back. Well tonight, we saw him haul in two receptions for 48 yards as well as the first two receiving touchdowns of his career.
• Nobody ever said that Jack Coan was going to be flashy but tonight he was very efficient as he completed 19/26 passes for 199 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. For this Wisconsin Badgers team to be successful, this is what they need him to do.
• It was a nice first game back for wide receiver Quintez Cephus who hauled in three receptions for 39 yards and was able to get open on two big plays downfield but was overthrown by Coan.
• Last season was a poor year for the Badgers’ defense but their performance against USF was incredibly impressive. They held the Bulls to 157 total yards, including only 26 on the ground.
• Turnovers! A part of the defensive struggles last season was the lack of turnovers from Wisconsin but tonight we saw them come away with three takeaways and one of them went for a touchdown.
• In 2017 the Wisconsin defense forced 42 sacks but last season that number would drop to only 19. Getting pressure on the quarterback is a huge emphasis this season and they were able to do that against USF. Even when they weren’t able to convert the sack, they were still able to create a number of hurries that affected the play.
• The Wisconsin Badgers’ front seven is legit, that is all I have to say.
• Collin Larsh was able to make all seven of his extra-point attempts but he did miss a thirty-yard field goal. It wasn’t Larsh but missed field goals did hurt this team in 2018 and these are kicks he needs to make.
• Although the offensive line had some breakdowns at times that led to Coan having to scramble and Taylor being bottled up, considering they have four new starters it was a fairly solid performance all around.
• This is always going to be a run-first team, especially when you have Jonathan Taylor, but we did see a much better balance between the running and passing game.
• The Badgers’ young secondary was exposed last season but they did very good in coverage tonight. Even when the USF quarterback had time, they didn’t give up any big plays.
• Coan did a nice job of distributing the ball as nine different Badgers’ receivers had at least one reception. Kendric Pryor was a favorite of Coan’s as he hauled in a team-leading four receptions.
• Wisconsin was able to convert a number of key third downs including 4/7 in the first half.

As far as week one performances go, it doesn’t get much better than this and as we look ahead to the rest of the Badgers’ season, there is plenty to be excited about.