Luke Fickell and Wisconsin recorded a bounce-back win over Georgia Southern in Week 3. Braelon Allen was a part of that, but it took a bit for Allen to truly get rolling in the game.

When the final whistle blew, Allen was just shy of 100 yards, finishing with 94 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries. It was a nice rebound for Allen after getting just 7 carries for 20 yards last week. However, it is worth noting that Chez Mellusi has recorded more carries than Allen in each of the last two games.

After the game, Fickell admitted he wanted to get Allen going earlier but it just didn’t materialize.

“That was part of the game plan, (but) sometimes you’ve gotta adapt and adjust,” said Fickell about getting Allen going early. “In the first half, we couldn’t and didn’t for whatever reason. We’ll go and take a good hard look at it and see why, but give (Georgia Southern) some credit.”

Fickell also noted the short-yardage runs are tough plays to get energy out of.

“Nonetheless, guys don’t recognize and realize… even a 4- or 5-yard run. The 2-yard runs, it’s hard to gain any energy from that even though they’re body blows and wear people down,” Fickell explained. “The 5 and the 6 ones and the ones you can just see a spark. And that’s what it was in the second half… That’s where I think you were able to feel some things that were a bit different.”

As for getting Allen more carries, Fickell admitted that’s something everyone wants for the running back, but the key is balancing Allen’s usage with the rest of the offense. The head coach did praise Allen for his unselfishness in the process.

“The great thing about Braelon is he is an unselfish kid. He is. He wants it more, we all know that,” said Fickell. “I want more wins. We all have a selfish nature to us. But the key is can we not let it override us with what’s best for the team and recognize what’s best for the team. We all feel the same, that’s what is great about it… We all feel the same exact way but we’ve got to find great ways to do that.”

We’ll see how the Badgers adjust moving forward with the start of B1G play coming up.