Badgers Overcome Poor Start

UW looked sluggish in the first quarter, but the Badgers were able to respond in the final 3 quarters and waltz to a 51-14 victory.

Marshall took advantage of a number of Badger miscues and took a 14-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter. UW committed several dumb penalties, was plagued by poor play in the secondary, and was unable to get any momentum on offense.

The tide started to turn with a 36-yard reception by Lance Kendricks a minute and a half into the second quarter, which put the Badgers into Marshall territory. The scoring drive was capped by a PJ Hill touchdown, giving the Badgers their first score of the day. The Badger defense improved too, collecting 3 interceptions later in the game and shutting down the Marshall offense for the rest of the game. And if my memory is correct, I don't think they committed a costly penalty after the first quarter.

The schedule only gets tougher now for the Badgers, as they travel to Fresno State next week for a prime-time game under the lights against a hungry opponent. UW then has a bye week before opening the Big Ten season at Michigan. Here's hoping the Badgers don't come out flat next week.

One final note about the Big Ten Network, which carried UW's game for the second straight week. I'm hoping the BTN will try a little harder in the future when it comes to the quality of their broadcast. The picture quality of the network was poor, and the announcers are pretty sub-par as well.