Upon Further Review: In loss to Indiana, Badgers’ offense remains stuck in mud

Tabbed a two-touchdown favorite against Indiana, Wisconsin couldn’t even manage to get in the end zone once.

The Badgers’ offense remained stuck in the mud for a second straight game as the Hoosiers won for the first time at Camp Randall Stadium since 2001 (and in the series since 2002), 14-6.

Indiana came in scoring over 32 points per game, but entered without star quarterback Michael Penix Jr, who tore his ACL and is out for the season. Backup Jack Tuttle, making his first start, was efficient enough, came up with a big play or two and perhaps most importantly didn’t make any mistakes.

Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz, meanwhile, lost a fumble on a blindside sack in the first quarter and threw an interception in the third quarter – both of which came in Indiana territory. The fumble led to the Hoosiers’ first touchdown as well.

Mertz finished 20-of-32 passing for 202 yards. Tuttle was 13-of-22 for 130 yards – but had two touchdowns.

The Badgers’ defense didn’t force any turnovers but allowed just 217 yards of total offense. It’s the fourth consecutive game Wisconsin has allowed under 300 yards to a Big Ten opponent (which hadn’t been done until 2017).

Penalties also hurt Wisconsin, which had eight accepted infractions, including two defensive pass interference calls and a holding on a big Jalen Berger run.

For a team having trouble moving the ball and scoring, turnovers, missed plays and penalties were too much to overcome.

Game story

Here’s a recap of Saturday’s game:

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Inside linebacker Jack Sanborn had another big game, with nine tackles, tying for the most on the team, with a tackle for loss and QB hurry. Sanborn also forced a fumble on a QB sneak by Indiana’s Jack Tuttle, a key play at the time as the Hoosiers were driving after coming up with an interception. The Badgers even got points off the turnover.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME

Don’t look now but Jalen Berger is Wisconsin’s main running back. He had only 15 carries – the next most by a non-quarterback was fullback Mason Stokke with five rushes – but he made the most of them, gaining 87 yards (5.8 average), the exact amount of rushing yards Indiana had. Berger had four runs of 10+ yards with a high of 20.

THAT MOMENT

We mentioned the turnovers above – and the bad timing of them (on the Indiana side of the field) but the Badgers did get into the red zone three times and ended up with just six points. On each occasion, Mertz tried to hit a wide receiver for a touchdown. Twice, on the drives which ended with short field goals, he threw to Kendric Pryor, including once into double coverage. Finally, with under a minute to play on fourth-and-10 Mertz tried to connect with Chimere Dike, with the ball knocked away at the last moment (some Wisconsin fans will complain there was DPI). A little more air under the ball and perhaps it’s a TD. Nevertheless, getting into the red zone three times and not getting a touchdown is, again, not a recipe for success.

THIS NUMBER

In its past two games, Wisconsin has 13 points combined. It’s the worst back-to-back scoring output for the Badgers and also the first time tallying single-digit points in consecutive games since Nov. 2-9, 1991 when UW lost 16-6 to Illinois and 20-7 to Michigan State. This also marked the first time Wisconsin didn’t have a touchdown in a game since a 10-6 loss at home to Iowa on Oct. 3, 2015.

THEY SAID IT

“I know the two third-down plays in the red zone when we kicked field goals, ended up going to KP and didn’t finish of the play there. Then at the end of the game … we didn’t make the plays down there. I’m anxious to go look at it. To beat good teams you have to make plays and we certainly didn’t offensively.” — head coach Paul Chryst on Wisconsin’s red-zone failures

“I like my guys, I like the one-on-one matchups. Obviously giving it up to KP into two guys, that’s just the game. I trust him to go make that play. That’s football. You win some, you lose some. You complete some, you don’t. But obviously we’re disappointed in how we executed and we have to work on that.” – Mertz

“Saw Chim one-on-one. Trust that dude. … Just trying to make a play. Saw him beat him off the line and just tried to put it on him, but we didn’t win that one. But I’m confident in his ability and I know we’ll get them in the future.” — Mertz on the final fourth-down play

“It’s a bittersweet day today. Knowing that was my last game playing at Camp Randall. … I thought about it a lot. Cherishing every moment, every snap. I love it here and I love being a Badger. It’s almost over and you think about that a lot. I’m just trying to maximize my opportunity these last few games. Yeah, it was my last game at Camp Randall but it’s not my last game as a Badger. … I’m doing everything I can to help this team win.” – senior left tackle Cole Van Lanen

WHAT’S NEXT

If you thought next week’s opponent might provide a reprieve for the offense, well, we’ve got bad news for you. Wisconsin finishes off its regular season having to travel to 5-2 Iowa, which was ranked No. 19 heading into this weekend. The Hawkeyes haven’t allowed more than 24 points in 21 consecutive games.