Badgers Stumble in Wild Opening | Wisconsin Badgers Football News

Wisconsin stunned everyone with a 36-9 win over Western Illinois—but it wasn’t the clean victory fans hoped for. The Leathernecks exploded out of the gate with a 72-yard TD on their first play and even blocked a punt for another score, making it look like the Badgers were in trouble early. Despite building a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, Wisconsin’s offense sputtered, relying on three field goals in the first half and struggling to move the ball consistently. The defense also gave up big chunks of yardage, letting Western Illinois control the game for stretches. Things didn’t improve much in the second half until Wisconsin finally found life with a long rushing touchdown drive that sealed the win—but overall, the performance exposed serious offensive and defensive issues. With Eastern Michigan next week before conference play against Penn State, Wisconsin needs to fix these problems fast if they want to turn things around. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Sources:https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/wisconsin-gets-back-track-win-022129828.html More coverage & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/f3e52d980eb79954 Report issues to [email protected].