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Congratulations Wisconsin, you are still one of the undefeated teams.
You defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini, 24-3, on Saturday and will more than likely still be in the top-5 in this upcoming week’s Associated Press Poll. However, during that game in Champaign, the Badgers didn’t do them any favors in term of making their case to be a College Football Playoff contender.
On Saturday, Wisconsin needed to score some style points against Illinois. And…it didn’t.
The Badgers were held to a mere 303 yards. But it didn’t help that the team’s best offensive player, running back Jonathan Taylor, went out for the remainder of the game after suffering an apparent hamstring injury.
Taylor only ran for 73 yards on 12 carries. If he is out for a significant chunk of time, that will more than likely hinder the Badgers’ offense moving forward.
Since Taylor did not play the last half, college football fans and the playoff selection committee were able to see what the Wisconsin offense can do. Hint: not much.
The Badgers’ offense was stale in the second half. Their first three drives were typical B1G series. Run six or seven solid plays then get stopped on third down and punt. The only time Wisconsin scored in the second half was a late fourth quarter lateral to offensive lineman Michael Deiter for a four yard score.
WISCONSIN FAT GUY TOUCHDOWN pic.twitter.com/3jyNo8Fs4R
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) October 28, 2017
The reason why the Badgers were just so blah on offense this weekend was because of quarterback Alex Hornibrook. Earlier this season, Hornibrook looked like he took the next step in becoming a good collegiate signal caller. But over the past several weeks, his play has slowly deteriorated.
Against the Illini, Hornibrook completed 10-of-19 passes (52.6 percent) for 135 yards and an interception. Most of those incompletions were because he either overthrew or threw to late. Hornibrook needs to improve his play to make Wisconsin a playoff worthy team.
While the offense sputtered against Illinois, the Badger defense played well. When it seemed like the Illini were going to get back into the game, the defense somehow found a way to change the momentum with either a turnover or a stop on downs. It’s clear that the Badgers have a championship worthy defense, but the offense needs to pick it up.
If I was a playoff committee member and I took a look at Wisconsin’s schedule, I would not be impressed. The Bagders have beaten Utah State, Florida Atlantic, BYU, Northwestern, Nebraska, Purdue, Maryland and Illinois. Out of those eight wins, which screams “that’s a playoff worthy victory”?
Northwestern? If that’s the only one, Wisconsin only defeated the Wildcats by nine points and it had to come from behind to do so. So, it is obvious that coach Paul Chryst and company don’t have a monumental win this season.
On College GamDay, analyst Desmond Howard stressed that the Badgers needed to score style points against Illinois. I mean, coming into the, the Illini were arguably the second worst FBS team right behind the Kansas Jayhawks. Only scoring 24 points and not running or passing for 200 yards each is not a good look. The only style points the Badgers scored on Saturday was the fat guy touchdown.
Now, Wisconsin could definitely still be a playoff contender. The Badgers are still undefeated and by the looks of it, they are going to represent the B1G West in the B1G Championship. If they are able to beat the Penn State Nittany Lions or the Ohio State Buckeyes in that game, Wisconsin could be the B1G representative in the Final Four. But on Saturday, they didn’t do themselves any favors of making their case to be a playoff team and that will more than likely reflect on Tuesday night when the first playoff top-25 rankings come out.