One of the Badgers biggest problems last season was taking care of the football. As a team, Wisconsin turned the ball over 23 times. Graham Mertz and Chase Wolf combined to throw 13 interceptions and the Badgers fumbled 19 times losing 10 of them. At one point in the season, the Badgers offense had more turnovers than the defense created. Wisconsin then went on to register a turnover differential of +1, which was good enough for ninth in the Big Ten. The Badgers need to take better care of the football if they want to get back to the Big Ten Championship.
Turnovers played a critical role in the Badgers struggles offensively. Through their first four games, the Badgers had 12 turnovers. These issues cost them games against Penn State, Notre Dame and Michigan. In those games, the Badgers had opportunities to try to win the game, but turnovers spoiled their chances. During the 2021 season, in games where the Badgers had three or more turnovers, they went 1-3. The only game they won with three turnovers was against lowly Northwestern. However, two of those turnovers came when the game was already decided. When the Badgers had two turnovers or less, they went 6-1.
Overall, there were only two games (Iowa and Nebraska) during the 2021 season that the Badgers didn’t have a turnover offensively. They won both those games. Coincidence? Not a chance. The Badgers have the type of team where turnovers can badly damage their chances to win. This makes protecting the ball even more crucial to success this season.
Offensively, the Badgers run a ball control offense that relies heavily on the run and great defense to work. Wisconsin’s offense hasn’t been known to be a “score at will” unit since they had Russell Wilson in 2011. The Badgers aren’t like Ohio State, Alabama or Oklahoma. Those teams have offenses that can easily overcome mistakes by having the ability to score any time. Wisconsin must control the game and force other teams to play their style of football in order to win.
Prior the bowl game, it looked as though the defense was tired towards the end of the season. Due to the issues on offense, the Badgers relied on their defense more than they probably should have all season. It was a factor against Minnesota when the Badgers allowed the Gophers to score 17 points in the second half. This ultimately prevented the Badgers from going to Indianapolis. Part of the reasons for their fatigue was the turnover issues on offense. The defense only allowed 19 total touchdowns all year and, when given unfavorable field position, opponents mostly settled for field goals.
Throughout the season, the Badgers were in most of the games they were trailing and had chances to win. However, any opportunity to win those games was ruined due to turnovers. This was evident in their matchup against Notre Dame last season. In that game, Wisconsin was just trailing the Irish 17-13 heading into the fourth quarter. Despite still having a chance to win, the Badgers offense melted down. They preceded to turn the ball over four times in the fourth quarter. This included back-to-back drives where Notre Dame returned interceptions for touchdowns. The Irish went on to embarrass the Badgers 41-13.
I understand that no college football team can go through a season turnover free. Sometimes a defender will make an outstanding play on the person with the football. However, if the Badgers can limit the number of times, it happens then they should be in great shape going forward. We saw last season the record the Badgers won more games when they had less than three turnovers. It was tale of two offenses last year when it came to turnovers. The Badgers need to be consistent in limiting turnovers if they want to win the Big Ten.
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