TheHellerWrapBadgers-Post

Wisconsin falls 41-13 to Notre Dame at Lambeau Field... outscored by the 4th ranked Irish 28-3 in the 2nd half

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hey, welcome in to the Heller Rap Badgers as they wrap up uh their their opening game against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field here in Green Bay. A highly anticipated game. There's just no way around the uh anticipation, the excitement of this game was real. And I think the sellout crowd and the environment here lived up to the advanced billing of what this game could be. The problem was the halftime of it was where Wisconsin didn't finish in the second half. And certainly you can't give a great team free opportunities. And that's what Wisconsin did tonight in a first half fumbled kick return that gave them uh a 13-yard field that Notre Dame converted into a touchdown, and then a second half pick six in this one from Colton Joseph. And uh probably an ill-advised throw. He was under pressure and uh maybe a little bit too quick. And Notre Dame created that play. Uh, did Wisconsin have a couple of opportunities maybe to make one or two of those on their own? Yeah, but they didn't. The the issue with this one, if you want to look big picture, is we we talked about it throughout the week and throughout the offseason, that the season couldn't be defined by the opening game. It could help define it. And what Wisconsin might have been able to do here tonight could have been a defining moment. The fact that Notre Dame runs away, in fact, if you want to check the score, I believe this is the exact same score of the game played in Soldier Field back in 2021 that Notre Dame outscored Wisconsin with the 31 fourth quarter points. 28-3 was the second half margin tonight at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and that just isn't good enough. So I was talking to a buddy of mine, Zach Heilprin, down on the field late in the game, and I said, Can you both be encouraged and discouraged in the same result? And I think the answer to that is yes. So let me paint the positive, the encouraging side first. I'm just gonna check comments to make sure. Uh good. All right, you can hear me. That's important. When I go to earbuds sometimes, I'm not sure that that's gonna work. Let me start with the positive. I thought Colton Joseph was very good. I think that Notre Dame's defense might be the best defense that Wisconsin will play against all season. And we don't know that yet. But I think it very well might be. And I think Wisconsin did a good job both in running a little bit and in the throw game. And I think of it at 13-10. And by the way, Dale, I'll get after your comment here in a moment. These are not excuses. That Wisconsin lost this game 41-13 is not okay. Are there positives? Yes. There are more negatives, and that's up to this coaching staff to figure it out. But I I think had last year's opening night been played against this Notre Dame team, Wisconsin would have been beaten thoroughly, soundly, completely, absolutely, not being a 13-10 game at halftime. I think Colton Joseph shows you what Jeff Grimes wants the offense to look like. I think Malachi Coleman shows you what Jeff Grimes and this offense needs their wide receivers to look like. But Busama, I think he didn't have any operating room, but I think you can see something there. So let me add in uh before I get to the the negative in full scope. Dale says stop making excuses, the program is broken, maybe forever. Well, that's silly. I listen, I'm not gonna tell you how to not be silly, but that's silly. It is the when you lose to Notre Dame by this score, it leaves you a lot of work in front of you. It wasn't good, but I do see things that can be very positive. The the fear here for some of the fan base, I think, is that this is what the season is gonna look like. And I don't think this is what the season is gonna look like. I think there are enough good things here to say, hey, we play like that, like we did in the first half, and we don't give the other team 14 points like Wisconsin did tonight, and there are ways. I get the final score. You cannot hide from it. It's 41-13. But I do think Notre Dame is one of the nation's elite teams. So I think if you bring that into play, it matters. The discouraging things. Wisconsin was not a very good finishing team. They haven't been in any of the last three years. They were not a good finishing team tonight. They got outscored 28-3 in the second half. And Notre Dame essentially bullied Wisconsin in the second half on the ground. And they already done it in the air with Carr in the first half because he had room to operate with wide receivers on the outside. And in the second half, they bullied Wisconsin's defensive front seven. Yeah. So that certainly has to be better. So from a negative standpoint, I think that that was the most glaring part. You you made a particular effort to be a team that finishes better. And they didn't finish at all tonight, 41-13. Didn't cover the spread. That doesn't matter to anybody other than those who place money, like in the in the locker room or with the coaching staff, uh the spread didn't matter. But I I can tell you this this part played out exactly as we had expected. If Notre Dame had a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, they wanted it to be 27. They did not stop. They didn't take their starters out. They are out to prove a point. And Wisconsin was on the other side of that point being proved on opening night. I think, and I said this throughout the week. I said I thought that Wisconsin could finish the month of September at 2-2, and that would get a lot of people, a lot of fans to check out. I still think they will finish this month. There's a good chance of finishing this month 2-2. And if you check out, I think you've made a mistake. I think this team is going to take steps that will have you wanting to be a fan of this team as it rolls forward. Could be wrong. I mean, that's that's the great thing about sport. There's no crystal ball that you can see it. Now, negative people are gonna look at the negatives and they're gonna say, nothing is different. And the final score would tell you nothing is different. Well, I watched it and I saw some things that were different, and then I saw some things that were the same and discouraging. Uh, a couple of more comments. Charles says, good start, just couldn't finish, sadly. Agreed. Mark G, it's still weird to me that these marquee games start the season. And yeah, I mean, if you open against eastern Michigan or Western Illinois or whoever the directional schools that were playing the next two weeks, this looks a whole lot different. When you open against the fourth-ranked team in the country, um, this was always going to be a chance. Remember, this game was supposed to be played, I believe, in 2021. Uh, Brian says Brady Collins was supposed to be a great strength and conditioning coach, yet we continue to have issues with other teams imposing their will. It's fair. Um Brazilian Bronco, how can you how can you be a coach when down only three points at half and can't get his team motivated? Good coaches lead, and this is on our coaches. Again, I'm not gonna fight that real hard, um, but I think it's about players. Players win, coaches motivate. And yeah, in the second half, Notre Dame came out of that locker room and they exerted their will on Wisconsin in the last 30 minutes of this game. 28-3. I'll tell you this: if it was 28-3 at the half, um, I would have a different view. If it was 28-3 going into halftime, I would say, wow, we spent the entire offseason and came out, and that's what it looked like in the opening 30 minutes. I feel better that that was in the second 30 minutes. That sounds defeatist, doesn't it? Um, I don't feel great about that. But if it was 28-3 at halftime, we'd have been up in the press box at halftime. I would have talked to Billy Schmid during the halftime report and said, wow, not the level of improvement that you thought you'd see from this team. At halftime, talking with Taush, talking with Billy, listening to Matt, it was Wisconsin did what they needed to do for 30 minutes, with one exception. That kick return fumble is a backbreaker, can't happen. And it did. You cannot give good teams free points. And Wisconsin gave Notre Dame 14 free points tonight. Yeah, they lost by 28. So does it look different if you don't give them 14 freebies? And then Wisconsin had opportunities. The Sebastian Cheeks strip sack on the opening possession, the block punt. Either one of those could have resulted in better, more for Wisconsin. They didn't. The strip sack was recovered by Notre Dame. That was really the only significant turnover opportunity that Wisconsin had that might have been on their side tonight, and it didn't end up being on their side. Um let's go to uh you you guys can run up. I'm blocking a pathway for people to get up and go shoot some things. Uh, this from Brian. What is your thought on my collins statement? Well, Brian, I I don't I don't study the strength and conditioning coaches and their pluses and minuses. So, yeah, is Wisconsin, should they be a better finishing team based on strength and conditioning? Probably. Um I still think that comes down to overall personnel. They're late to the game. Let's start with that. Wisconsin is late to the game in the transfer portal pay-for-play world. You can't be late to the game. That still is, if there is a parting shot of Chris McIntosh, is that you can't wait until the fourth year under Luke Fickel to provide players. Wisconsin lagged. And that is that is still hurting them. But if you were starting this, you can come. Yeah, you hold on, Jesse. I'm just wrapping up my rap, and then we'll we'll do Jesse Temple's here. We're gonna take care of a Badger Connect video. But as I finish the rap, you you cannot just look at this year as the continuing problem. I think that this is this is the jumping on point, which some people aren't gonna like. But that is a culture that was left from the previous AD because they did not pay players for the last three years. And in that, they played from behind the eight-ball. They were really fighting an uphill battle. Um, Steve says, hope the improved quarterback has potential. Would like to see Dupree get more touches, won't burn a Saturday watching live, but we'll record while he plays golf. Uh, Roger, better personnel by far. Uh, certainly on the other side. What about the offense not going for it in the first half of the fourth down three? Luke just talked about that in his postgame, and he said that uh uh Gavin Lom's percentage from the right hash mark is right at that distance, drops down from 90 to 85, down into the mid-70 percentile when kicking from the right hash, so they didn't go for it there. All right. Well, plenty more that we can uh discuss on this when we get back in uh studio early next week. Uh we wrap up the Heller rap for tonight. Notre Dame wins this one going away. It's game one of 12. You get to fan how you want. I wouldn't pass season wide judgment on game one, but you do you. We'll talk about it. Tuesday, I love Mondays, comes back this week on Tuesday. There is no Monday show. Happy Labor Day, and we'll talk to you then.