Wisconsin Football: 5 things Badgers have to do to win Big Ten West

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MADISON, WISCONSIN – OCTOBER 30: Graham Mertz #5 of the Wisconsin Badgers looks to the scoreboard during a game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Camp Randall Stadium on October 30, 2021 in Madison, Wisconsin. The Badgers defeated the Hawkeyes 27-7. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Things Badgers have to do to win Big Ten West: Protect the rock

One of the biggest downfalls of Wisconsin (going on two years now) has been their propensity to turn the ball over. They constantly put their defense into difficult positions by giving opposing offenses a short field to work with. Whether it be interceptions, quarterback fumbles or running back fumbles, it hasn’t been a good equation for the Badgers.

Mertz is at the center of it all. He’s been extremely turnover prone throughout his Badgers’ career and has been downright careless with the rock. After throwing six interceptions in the first three games alone, he’s only thrown one pick in his last five contests and has protected the ball better in the pocket as well (minus his fumble that was returned for a touchdown against Purdue).

Although Mertz has been the primary offender, he isn’t the only one. Emerging running back Braelon Allen (more on him in a moment) has been careless with the ball as well. If these two are going to have the ball in their hands on a majority of the plays they must do a better job taking care of it if Wisconsin wants to win out.

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