Badgers hang on 26-21 in season opener

Im a little late in getting a recap of this game, but better late than never right? Well, not if your Northern Iowa, whose offense waited for about 43 minutes to show up in this game, and it ended up being just a little to late. The Wisconsin offense started out slow, like I predicted, but never got the train rolling like I thought they would. There first few drives were slow and methodical, but they couldnt finish them off at first, which led to a paltry 6-0 lead as the first half winded down. Finally, in the two minute offense, O' Brien led a good drive and threw a ten yard touchdown pass to Jared Abbredaris to give the Badgers a 13-0 halftime lead. The Badgers came out firing in the third quarter with another long drive, capped by a one yard touchdown run by Montee Ball, and a 19-0 lead, as the PAT try was blocked.

At this point it appeared the Badgers were rolling to a season opening win, like they should have against an FCS opponent, but Northern Iowa fought back. They got across the 50 yard line for the first time in the game with three minutes left in the third, and continued to march thanks to a couple third down conversion attempts, and found the endzone to cut the Badger lead to 19-7 with one quarter left.

Wisconsin came right back punching in the fourth, finally finding that big play everyone at Camp Randall had been waiting for all day. That big play was a 53 yard touchdown pass again to Jared Abbredaris and a 26-7 Badger lead with just 12:31 remaining. game over, right? well from here the Badgers nearly melted down. Northern Iowa marched down the field with ease, scoring a touchdown in just over a minute, to cut the lead to 26-14. Then a short Badger drive, led to another way to easy touchdown drive for the Panthers and all of a sudden the lead was just 26-21 with half of the fourth quarter remaining. The badgers followed this up with a three and out, and the Panthers got the ball back with a chance to take the lead with over five minutes remaining. Northern Iowa converted a couple long third downs on the drive, and even crossed the fifty, petrifying badger fans everywhere, but the drive finally stalled with a tipped pass on a 4th and 1, and the Badgers got the ball back, and Montee Ball helped the Badgers run out the clock. 1-0. Some observations from the game

Despite having an explosive offense last year, the defense, especially the secondary left a lot to be desired, and those concerns werent extinguished yesterday. Northern Iowa made the defense look silly in the fourth quarter. This unit will have to improve if the Badgers will have another special season.

O'brien was solid. he completed 19 of 23 passes, and even though most of the throws were conservative, hes still going to fit in nicely with this offense. Dont expect the Badgers to put up 44 points a game again, but expect 35-40 by the time its all said and done.

Montee Ball was less than stellar. With only 12, or 13 games in a season, one bad game can ruin hesiman hopes. Ball averaged less than four yards a carry, and never broke one big. It doesnt ruin his chances, but a couple more games like that and his chances will start to slowly fade away.

Jared Abbredaris had six receptions for 84 yards and two touchdown receptions. I expect him to be one of the top receivers in the big ten all season and possibly a difference maker in some games. Hes the real deal.

There were no turnovers on either side in this game, but a few forced fumbles. The Badgers have an extremely talented linebacker corps, so expect a plethora of those forced fumbles this year.

Wisconsin converted 9-16 third downs and only allowed the Panthers to convert 3-11, though all of these conversions came at crucial points in the game. The Badgers converted their only fourth down attempt, and Northern Iowa converted two of three.

I went 11-1 in picking Big ten games this week, only missing out on Ohio-Penn state. I went 2-1 in picking outside games, missing on Clemson-Auburn.

Up Next: The Badgers head to Corvallis to take on Oregon State. I think I speak for everyone when I say Im happy the Badgers will get a true road game under their belt before Big ten play starts. As everyone knows, last year their first road game wasnt until October 22nd, and I think that hurt them. The Badgers went 2-2 in road games last year, and really struggled against clearly inferior opponents in the two games they won. Hopefully and early road game this year will help. the game time is 1:00 local time. And finally, one thing well be keeping track of all season..

Montee Ball touchdown counter: 1