MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Badgers eventually took care of business against the Western Michigan Broncos Friday night.
They beat the Broncos 28-14.
Wisconsin dominated the box score, but the home team faced adversity and never felt totally comfortable. Head coach Luke Fickell said there is a lot to learn from this battle of a game.
“If there’s something that’s glaring that we got to do a better job of, it’s when we get to the red zone,” said Fickell. “I think offensively we had too many penalties. We put ourselves in too many negative yardage plays and then put us in situations that kick field goals and that’s not what we want to do. And we know we’ve got to do a better job of that and that’s something we’ve emphasized and focused on and now we just got to make sure we do a better job.”
The Badgers led by only three points heading into the half and looked to be on a downward spiral with a missed field goal and fumble.
Even though they were down by one early in the fourth quarter, the team said they had faith in each other to get the job done.
“[We] just have to have a better start,” said senior quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. “We had three drives in the first half, and I wish we have a little bit more of that, more drives. I thought we did a good job finishing and we’re going to have some adversity sometimes. And yeah, we’ve got to be better next week for sure.”
“It says, I’m not going to put our heads down,” said junior safety Austin Brown. “The game was looking rough at times, but coming out with a win, even though all the ups and downs, that says a lot about us. We were able to lock in important moments and ultimately get the win.”
While the defense was not thrilled with some of the big plays they gave up, the big fourth down stop late in the game may have clinched the victory
“I think we took the big step. Nobody really, batted an eye or shut down,” said senior linebacker Jake Chaney. “We were down in the fourth quarter. You know, we knew what we had to do. And, you know, we execute.”
The Badgers will look to build off the momentum this win gives the team. Sophomore offensive lineman Joe Brunner said there were positives to take from it, but also a lot that they will need to fix to get where they want to be.
“When you can have an offense that’s so balanced and have two hundred yards rushing yards and passing, that means you’re good,” said Brunner. “That means you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Coach Longo talks about that all the time, Fickell talks about that. So I think being able to run and pass the ball so effectively is what you want for sure.”
The Badgers said the most important thing to come out of the first game of the season is that they found a way to stay together and win.
The Badgers are back in Madison next week Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. to take on South Dakota. It’s a classic trap game, as Wisconsin hosts national power Alabama the following week, which will be a big test.