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What’s next for Badger football after a rollercoaster start to the 2020 season?
After cancellation of their game against Minnesota, Wisconsin is officially ineligible for the Big Ten Championship. (Image: 124258)

What’s next for Badger football after a rollercoaster start to the 2020 season?

MADISON, Wis. (BVM) — There were a lot of unknowns heading into this college football season, but no one could have predicted the start this University of Wisconsin squad had in 2020.

Before the season even kicked off the Badgers were given awful news that starting quarterback Jack Coan suffered a broken foot and would be out indefinitely for the 2020-2021 season. Coan was  coming off a solid 2019 season where he  threw for 2,727 yards, 18 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions.

The injury led to head coach Paul Chryst turning to highly recruited redshirt freshman Graham Mertz who was ranked as the number one pocket passer in the 2019 QB class.

After a dominating performance against Illinois on Oct. 23rd, where Mertz went 20 of 21  for 248 yards and 5 touchdowns. Everything was looking up for a program that has not seen a quarterback put up those types of numbers since Russell Wilson in 2011.

All those high spirits would shortly change as the following days had multiple Badger players and personnel test positive for COVID-19. This resulted in Wisconsin’s next two games against Nebraska and Purdue getting cancelled.

Wisconsin would not take the field again until Nov. 14 where they took care of business against a struggling Michigan squad 49-11. After an early COVID scare, Wisconsin was sitting nicely at 2-0 and ranked 10th in the country. Next was  a key matchup against an undefeated Northwestern team that would have major implications on the Big Ten West standings.

Unfortunately, Wisconsin could never get their offense going. Struggling to find open receivers,  Mertz threw for three int. as well as a fumble loss on the day. The offense only managed one touchdown and the big play running ability that solidifies Wisconsin football was absent in a 17-7 loss. 

With Northwestern now sitting solely on top of the Big 10 West Wisconsin was now on the outside looking in, needing to be perfect for the rest of the year and hoping Northwestern would lose a couple down the stretch. The first step would be the battle for the Paul Bunyan Axe against Minnesota.

However, for the first time since 1906 the oldest rivalry in college football would not be taking place. Minnesota players tested positive for COVID-19 and last  Saturday’s game would not be played leaving Wisconsin in a tough situation to close out the year.

This was the third game  Wisconsin had to cancel this season. Wisconsin  now would only have  five regular season games making them ineligible for the Big Ten Championship. 

Wisconsin Badgers football official Twitter released a statement from head coach Paul Chryst about the cancellation of the game against Minnesota.

Just as Paul Chryst stated, Wisconsin needs to move their attention to a surprising Indiana team that is 4-1 after almost pulling off a near upset win against  third ranked Ohio State, losing narrowly 42-35. 

Trying to find their identity should be key moving forward as a number one back has not emerged in the Badger backfield. Front runner is sophomore Nakia Watson who leads the team in rushing attempts and touchdowns on the year. Other candidates include freshman Jalen Burger who despite the offensive struggles against the Wildcats, had a decent game rushing for 93 yards on 15 attempts. Lastly is senior Garret Groshek who is the most experienced back and has the most receptions coming out of the backfield with eight. 

This may not be the ideal scenario for Wisconsin to be in but there is still a lot of upside for this team that looks to develop a young roster for next season.  All the Badgers can do now is end the year strong.