Well that was easy.
This was supposed to be the week where the Wisconsin Badgers got declawed and stuffed as it came back down to Earth. After all, LSU was overrated right? And of course, struggling against FCS opponent Georgia State was surely a sing of things to come. Just wait until the Michigan State Spartans let the lion out of the cage.
Not so.
Instead, the Badgers came into East Lansing, put a muzzle on the lion, and served notice that maybe, just maybe, they can navigate this brutal schedule and make this Big Ten West race more interesting than we all thought. Iowa might still get it together, and Nebraska has looked fantastic, but so has Paul Chryst’s team.
And how has Wisconsin done it so far? Remember Dave Aranda? There were supposed to be concerns on the defensive side of the ball with the loss of one of the best defensive coordinators in the country, but there hasn’t been a drop off seemingly at all. New D-coordinator Justin Wilcox has put together great game plans and kept the same aggressive, yet sound tendencies that fits the personnel to a T.
It’s been a long time since a team administered a public flogging to the home team in East Lansing.
#Spartans were held without a TD at home in the 1st half for 1st time since 2012 against Northwestern #WISCvsMSU
— BTNStatsGuys (@BTNStatsGuys) September 24, 2016
Michigan State could get no rhythm on offense on either the ground or through the air, and often times desperation turned into confusion and mistakes by Michigan State quarterback Tyler O’Connor and others.
The Badgers’ used big plays on defense to stymie the Spartan attack and wrestle the game, and pride away from a Michigan State program that has been among the blue-bloods of the sport for a few years now.
Wisconsin safety Leo Musso scoops and scores the Michigan State fumble!#WISCvsMSUhttps://t.co/7nZoufBFJF — Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) September 24, 2016
In the end, the Spartans were held to just two field goals after running the Notre Dame defense off the field last week.
Wisconsin may have found its quarterback of the future as well. The numbers weren’t astronomical by any means, but freshman QB Alex Hornibrook had great command of the offense, made big throws when he had to, and limited the mistakes that are too often momentum-swinging.
He should only get better, and with the defense Wisconsin can roll out onto the field, his abilities should be more than enough to hold up the end of the bargain on the side of the ball responsible for scoring points.
http://gty.im/607681486
Despite the arduous journey taken so far, there’s still bigger battles to fight in the immediate term. Yeah, the Badgers are 4-0 overall, and 2-0 in games they were supposed to lose, but Wisconsin must still go on the road to Ann Arbor next week, then host Ohio State three weeks from now after a bye, then travel to Iowa, and finish the Tough Mudder stretch of games by welcoming Nebraska on October 29.
Everyone all the way down to the waterboy and team manager will be black just in time for Halloween.
But don’t count ’em out. Not any more. Defense travels as they say, and as long as that side of the ball continues to dominate, and the offense continues its development around Hornibrook, there’s a good chance the Badgers will be in every game with a shot to win.
None of the big boys should take this team lightly going forward. Not Iowa, not Nebraska, and not the beasts of the East division like Ohio State and Michigan. After all, one of the lions of the east was already silenced today.
