Wisconsin Football: Report card from victory against USF in Week 1

Defense

Defensive Line: A

There’s high praise to go around on the Badger defense, but it starts on the defensive line. They held the Bulls to a total of 26 rushing yards on the entire game.

Not only did they stop the run, they also got to the quarterback and contributed to pressuring the passe . Matt Henningsen was the only lineman to account for a sack, but the linebacking core got a huge boost from just how much attention the line took of of them. Friday night was a classic case of a defensive line being so disruptive that the linebackers could move completely freely.

Linebackers: A

The linebackers got help from the line, and boy, did they cash in. Backers accounted for three sacks, between Zack Baun, Izayah Green-May and Jaylan Franklin. This group was a big part of not only getting to the passer, but also stunting the USF running game.

Secondary: A

This unit held Blake Barnett to a stat line that read 13-of-30 for 109 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Those picks were caught by Eric Burrell and Collin Wilder.

Friday night was about as good as it gets for the Badgers. Things won’t be this easy all year, but it was an extremely encouraging start for Paul Chryst’s team.