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Kirk Herbstreit touts Wisconsin’s resiliency following 1-3 start: ‘They were left for dead’
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Things have turned around pretty nicely in Madison over the last two months. After a 1-3 start to the season, which included a pair of blowout losses to Notre Dame and Michigan, everyone was wondering what was wrong with Wisconsin.
No longer is that the case.
After that horrendous start, the Badgers have figured some things out on both sides of the ball. The defense is playing at an elite level. The offense has found a thunder-and-lightning combination with Chez Mellusi and Braelon Allen. The passing attack isn’t a guaranteed turnover.
ESPN College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit has picked up on all those points. He’s been thoroughly impressed with how the Badgers have continued to progress over the course of the year.
“Wisconsin was left for dead … They didn’t have an identity. Their best identity on offense was to maybe punt on first down after the first four weeks. They were turning the ball over. They didn’t have a quarterback that was playing with any confidence, and to the credit of their coach, because think about today’s day and age, says a lot about the character on that football team to be 1-3 — Wisconsin has Top 10 aspirations,” Herbstreit said during ESPN’s College Football podcast. “You go to practice you’re 1-3 fresh off back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and Michigan, your season’s gone for all intents and purposes as far as your goals.
“And they start chipping away. And you figure out you know what we’re gonna do? We’re done throwing the ball and turning it over. We’re gonna rely on Jimmy Leonhard and one of the best defenses in the country. We’re gonna run it every play, and we’re not going to turn it over, and let’s punt and let’s just be smart. And they’ve grown obviously. They’re throwing it a little bit, but it’s still defense, special teams, field position, run the ball, don’t turn it over. And they have won five straight games by doing that. And looked good doing it.
“Now all of a sudden you take that 1-3 team, now you have a confident team that has Northwestern, they have Nebraska, both at home, they go to Minnesota very strong chance they finish this thing out by winning eight straight going into Indianapolis and playing in the Big Ten championship. It’s just a credit to that program, to Paul Chryst, to the players, the type of kids he recruits for them not to throw in their hat, and give up on the season and just kind of keep pounding that rock. And it’s gonna pay off for ’em because, like you said, they’ve got that identity. Gonna be tough to beat for any of these remaining games they have left on their schedule.”
The Badgers have ripped off 5 straight victories, which includes wins over Purdue and Iowa. Left on the schedule is Northwestern, Nebraska and Minnesota. Wisconsin controls its own destiny in the B1G.
If Chryst’s team gets back to Indianapolis, there’s no doubt it’ll be one of his best coaching jobs while in Madison.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB