Badgers fans take to Twitter to weigh in on Wisconsin's loss at Northwestern
Wisconsin State Journal reporter Jim Polzin asked Badgers fans on Twitter what they thought of No. 10 Wisconsin's 17-7 loss to the No. 19 Northwestern Wildcats in a Big Ten West Division battle Saturday at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill.
Here's what fans were saying after the Badgers dropped their first game of the pandemic-shortened season:
Paying their dues
We got clobbered. Our Freshman QB finally took some lumps today. The WI D played great. The Offense was a complete no show. D Coordinator for Northwestern dialed up his D against a rook today and showed Mertz isn't quite ready just yet. He's going to be a good one. But not today.
— Michael Herfel 😷🇺🇸 (@MichaelHerfel7) November 22, 2020
Clear skies ahead
Exactly— need to look forward. We’ve begun to solve our WR talent issue with the new WR coach ( Gilmore was anawful recruiter) TE talent much better but still not ready, OL will be exceptional , LB’s exceptional. DL good. Need to stop recruiting undersized 3 star DB’s.
— RyderCupCaptain (@BadgerOC1) November 22, 2020
Called out
Injuries, youth, and the worst officiating I have ever seen.
— Butch Gebhardt (@ButchieGee) November 22, 2020
You can't get obvious replays right. NW not called for a single judgement call.
A lot of good young players. This season was wrecked long ago anyway.
Comedy of errors
He didn’t but he had no help. Had 4th and 5th string guys out there. Everything that could of went wrong did
— WSN (@just_a_game5) November 22, 2020
Paging Paul Chryst
Who the hell punts down 10 w 5 to go. I dont get it man
— Jman (@grahammertz5555) November 22, 2020
Familiar feeling of failure
The annual premature end to the season. Pathetic.
— WSRanter (@WSRanter) November 22, 2020
Swept under the rug
Curoius as to where the jet sweep action was today. Were they that concerned that NW would be able to stop it, or was it because of personnel. Dike seems to be the best option for it, or run it with 2 RB's. Did not see any 2nd half adjustments on offense.
— Thömas A. Miller (@UWBone24) November 22, 2020
It's bad, it's really bad
Bad bad play calling!!! Bad execution.
— lynn vold (@vold_lynn) November 22, 2020
The No. 1 Berger
Berger was clearly the best option at RB today. I said the same thing the entire game
— Aaron Poller (@pollera33) November 22, 2020
Outmuscled on the gridiron
Thought our D played well. 2 many forced errors on O. O line got pushed around limiting protection for Mertz. And Mertz was off on several throws. But to be fair, with players out, he didn’t have many experienced WR to throw the ball. NW D is for real. Badgers down but not out.
— Paul Yochum'63 (@PaulYochum63) November 22, 2020
Costly absences
This. WRs did not squat in open spots in zone. Also, WRs did not read blitz’s and shorten routes. Really missed Davis and Pryor. And then Ferguson gets dinged. Finally, why not give Berger another 10 touches?
— Bill_Woj (@Slough_Creek) November 22, 2020
At the top of their game
Yes, I am amazed at how good NU's defense was. And, they did have enough offense to win. Remember, they probably should have been up 14 - 0 in the first quarter, and they still won by 10.
— Murph the Wonder Dog (@PlsVoteNov3rd) November 22, 2020
The Badgers should have run the ball much more consistently. The pass game killed us.
Shake it off
— Ron Sedgwick (@RonSedgwick) November 22, 2020
Complete collapse
Agreed, some really bad decisions
— Michael Drew 🍻 (@MikeDrewWhat) November 22, 2020
Same ol', same ol'
Lots of hype, same ol, rinse, wash, repeat; maybe next year!
— Gary Stinson (@GStinson9) November 22, 2020
Stick with what you know
Very on brand performance at Evanston. Doesn’t matter what year it is. Always ugly.
— erick morelos (@emorelos17) November 22, 2020
Running on empty
To be expected. We don’t have enough athletes and playmakers to overcome injuries, turnovers and penalties. That’s the difference between Wisconsin and the top teams.
— Adam (@asb613) November 22, 2020
More, please
Jalen Berger needs to touch the ball 20-25 times a game
— Jeremiah Walsh (@koachjj89) November 22, 2020
How to build a loss...
Penalties, injuries, and the refs killed us...not necessarily in that order
— Michael H. Hyman (@MCPSsportypsych) November 22, 2020
Stick with it
Just like 2010s
— DRich (@drich318318) November 22, 2020
Talent gap
Lack of practice time, lack of offensive skill players. For all the hype from recruiting, it surely did not look like there is any talent beyond Jalen Berger but even he is not ready for carrying the load.
— Mark Hanson (@biasauth) November 22, 2020
Feed Berger more
Terrible officiating throughly, but most significantly in the first Q. UW should’ve ran the ball with Berger way more. He was maybe the lone bright spot offensively. Tough to win with freshman and walking at WR. Turnovers were the killer today. Can’t blame the refs for those.
— Adam LaRock (@AdamLaRock) November 22, 2020
Something in the water
We always struggle at Northwestern. Weird plays/ calls happen. Their D coordinator anticipates our plays better than anyone else.
— Doug Benzine (@DougBenzine) November 22, 2020
Anything can happen in 2020
I think the season is over from anything but a pride standpoint
— Mark (@badgerfanaz) November 22, 2020
Shhhh! They'll hear you!
Maybe NW is pretty good?
— Jace Martens (@jacemartens) November 22, 2020

