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Wisconsin Football v. Kent State: 3 Big Takeaways

By Paul Bretl

MADISON, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 05: Jonathan Taylor #23 of the Wisconsin Badgers is pursued by Elvis Hines #8 of the Kent State Golden Flashes during the first half at Camp Randall Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 05: Jonathan Taylor #23 of the Wisconsin Badgers is pursued by Elvis Hines #8 of the Kent State Golden Flashes during the first half at Camp Randall Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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The Wisconsin Football team moved to 5-0 on the season after their win over Kent State. Here are the three big takeaways from their performance on Saturday.

After a hard-fought game a week ago against Northwestern, the Wisconsin Football team came out yesterday and absolutely dominated Kent State at Camp Randall. As always, they were led by the stout Badger defense and of course, running back Jonathan Taylor, as the Badgers cruised to an easy 48-0 victory.

With Big Ten play about to ramp up, this was the exact type of performance that the Badgers needed against an opponent like Kent State as they controlled all three phases of the game. Now as we take a look back at their performance from Saturday, these are the three big takeaways from what we saw.

The offense had their get right game

Northwestern always seems to play this Wisconsin team incredibly tough and that was once again true last week. Jack Coan would throw his first interception of the season while as a team, Wisconsin was just 4-16 on third downs, totaled only 243 yards, and they were outscored by the Badger defense. With Kent State coming into town, this Wisconsin offense needed a get right game and that is precisely what happened.

Taylor exploded against the poor Kent State run defense totaling 186 rushing yards with an average of 9.8 per carry, along with four touchdowns and another through the air. Coan was an efficient 12/15 with two touchdown passes, including a very nice touch pass to tight end Jake Ferguson.

Meanwhile, 10 different receivers had at least one reception, with five having at least 20 receiving yards. They were much better on third downs going 11-15 and in total, the Wisconsin football team would finish with 520 yards of offense.

Zack Baun and Chris Orr…My Goodness!

Coming into Saturday’s game against Kent State, Zack Baun and Chris Orr had combined for 37 tackles, five sacks, and 8.5 tackles for loss. These two linebackers are what makes this defense tick, through their leadership and play on the football field which was once again on full display this past Saturday.

Per usual both players were flying all over the field making plays. Orr would finish with five tackles, two of which were for a loss and two sacks. While Baun had three tackles, all for a loss and another three sacks. It won’t be long before we see both of these players on Sunday’s in the NFL.

The Badgers stayed healthy

Coming into this game, the Wisconsin football team was relatively healthy and outside of losing Scott Nelson earlier in the season, they haven’t really had any other major injuries. In a game like this one where the Badgers were expected to win, staying healthy is crucial as well.

The Wisconsin offense did what they have done for most of the season against out of conference opponents as they got an early lead, put the game out of reach quickly, and as a result, they were able to rest key players for a good portion of the second half.

Next. Badgers v. Northwestern: 3 Big Takeaways. dark

With Michigan State next week, Ohio State two weeks out, and a matchup with Iowa three weeks away, coming out of this game healthy was critical.

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