Wisconsin Football: 3 takeaways from ugly win over Northwestern

Northwestern and Wisconsin football played a fierce defensive battle at Camp Randall. Here are three things we learned in early Week 5 action from Madison.

It felt like a classic Big Ten contest on the first Saturday of autumn, as Wisconsin and Northwestern traded punches throughout their divisional battle on Saturday. The Badgers, coming off the emotional high of blowing out Michigan in Week 4, struggled to get their offense going against the Wildcats like they were able to do against the Wolverines a week earlier.

But Wisconsin was just as salty when Northwestern had the ball. Pat Fitzgerald’s team was unable to do much against the Badgers, and Wisconsin’s defense nearly outscored the Wildcats offense. In the end, Northwestern was unable to reverse the script as they fell 24-15 in Madison.

After falling against the Wildcats last season, Wisconsin reasserted their position as the team to beat in the Big Ten West race. Now that they have a key head-to-head tiebreaker against the defending division champions, Paul Chryst’s team will have plenty of confidence heading into the second month of the season.

But it was hardly a perfect performance by the Badgers. There is plenty to work on over the week as Wisconsin prepares for their final non-conference game against Kent State. Here are three things to take away from an uneven performance at home on Saturday afternoon.