It has been a season full of ups and downs for Wisconsin Badgers fans, as they started the season 1-3 but have now improved to 6-3. 

The Badgers lost their home opener to Penn State in a hard fought battle 16-10. Quarterback Graham Mertz started the season off terribly, throwing 2 interceptions and going 22/37 on passing attempts, while Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford threw for 247 yards, a touchdown and went 18/33 on passing attempts. 

The only bright spot in that game was that the Badgers had 180 rushing yards to only 50 for Penn State, however Penn State topped the Badgers in passing yards with 247 to 185. It was not a good first game for the Badgers and fans were worried. “I was pretty disappointed in the team because the first game is always a big one especially against a good team, so when they lost I feel like they lost a lot of confidence,” junior Anthony Sardina said. 

The Badgers started off the season 1-3 which was their worst start of the season since 1990. After losing to Penn State, Michigan, and Notre Dame the Badgers are now on a roll, beating Purdue, Iowa, and Rutgers, some attribute this up and down season. Some attribute this up and down season to the play of Mertz, while others believe it is the coaching, and some believe it is the offensive line. “In the first couple of games the offensive line kept getting Mertz sacked and each game they kept getting better, and since Mertz is getting more time in the pocket he is doing better,” sophomore Jackson Braley said. 

Since going 1-3 the Badgers have somewhat found their rhythm again and made their way back to 6-3 with five straight wins. One of those was against the Purdue Boilermakers and another against the 19th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. “I’m happy they finally found their groove again and that they are starting to bounce back so they can atleast get a bowl game,” senior Noah Roder said. 

The Badgers will finish off the season with three unranked opponents: Northwestern, Nebraska, and Minnesota, looking to make their final record 9-3. The Badgers are standing at 20th in the college football rankings with the 1st ranked defense in all of college football.

The loss of the three running backs throughout the season has  given freshman running back Braelon Allen a great opportunity to prove himself to be the best freshman in the class and he is showing promise as he has 6 rushing touchdowns with 661 rushing yards.

 Allen skipped his senior season of high school to go play at Camp Randall one year early. “It is very cool to see him succeed so well because I used to go to the same gym as him and now he is one of the most well known running backs in college football,” junior Brandon Bull said. 

 The Badgers have two of the most dominant linebackers in the country, Leo Chenal and Nick Herbig. Chenal has 5.5 sacks for a loss of 46 yards and 48 tackles this season, while Herbig has 7 sacks for a loss of 32 yards and 34 tackles this season. 

The two senior linebackers are expected to be in the top ranked linebackers in the 2022 NFL draft. “Our defense is what is keeping us alive, the offense needs to step it up in order for us to be more successful,” sophomore Jonah Plitt said. 

As the Badgers roll into the 9th game of the season, Badgers fans continue to have high hopes for their team to make it into a bowl game and hope that the Badgers can keep playing well and getting better as we get closer to bowl season.