Upon Further Review: Badgers at South Florida

It took a little while for Wisconsin to get its season started, but it was worth the wait.

With lightning in the Tampa area, the Badgers’ 2019 opener at South Florida was delayed nearly an hour. By the time the game was over, Wisconsin had its biggest road shutout in over 35 years and Jonathan Taylor began his junior year with a performance which backed his Heisman Trophy hype.

The Jack Coan era at Wisconsin began with an easy 49-0 victory. The junior quarterback was solid, if unspectacular, completing 19 of 26 passes (73.1%) for a career-high 199 yards and two touchdowns.

Both the scores went to Taylor, his only two receptions. The running back also add two rushing touchdowns as the Badgers churned out 234 yards on the ground.

Wisconsin’s defense was Taylor-like on its side of the ball, recording four sacks – most in a game for UW since 2017 – and three takeaways while not allowing South Florida to cross midfield until there was just over five minutes left in the game. The Bulls had only 157 yards, just 26 rushing.

Overall, it’s not the best test Wisconsin will have during the 2019 season, but with a number of question marks entering the year, it was a strong way to announce itself to the college football world.

Here’s a recap of Thursday night’s game (Story | Photos):

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