Winning looks different for every college football team. It even varies year-to-year for the Wisconsin Badgers.
The 2021 Badgers obviously struggled to find wins early on this season. In that losing the team’s identity wasn’t fully clear. The defense was great, but there was no clear strong point to point to on offense.
That trended positively through the last few wins, as the run blocking began to improve and the run game started to dominate as a result.
After today’s 30-13 victory over Purdue? We see Wisconsin’s clear winning identity.
That identity: Continue to play dominant defense on all levels, win in the run-blocking department, let Chez Mellusi and Braelon Allen generate offense and only require around 10 pass attempts from Graham Mertz.
That’s what worked today, with Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi combining for nearly 300 yards, Jim Leonhard’s defense forcing five turnovers and Graham Mertz only attempting two passes in the second half.
The team is clearly at its best when Mertz isn’t forced to throw the ball often, Allen and Mellusi get to find space and make plays and the defense isn’t left out to dry by stagnant offensive performances.
In all, it’s a great sign for Wisconsin’s chances at the Big Ten West this season. Now we see if the team can carry it over into a season-defining game next Saturday against Iowa.
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