As the Wisconsin Badgers team rolled through the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, the passing defense truly took center stage for Wisconsin.
Wisconsin faced off against the Scarlet Knights and starting quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. Kaliakmanis has experience playing against the Badgers, but did so in a Minnesota Golden Gophers jersey previously. The quarterback was having a solid season throughout 2024 up until he met the Wisconsin Badgers secondary on defense.
The Badgers recorded an interception against Kaliakmanis and held the quarterback to just 103-yards passing. Kaliakmanis also only completed 12-of-32 passes, with seven of his completions coming in the first-half of play against Wisconsin. The quarterback finished the game with a quarterback rating of 36.2 in what was his worst performance of the season.
What exactly went wrong for Kaliakmanis against the Badgers is a mystery, but the certain truth about his performance is that something was off. The quarterback struggled to throw the football with any sort of accuracy, which was rather ugly to watch at times. It seemed as if the quarterback was trying to place to ball out of reach of the Wisconsin defenders following his interception against the defense.
Wisconsin Badgers Defense Halts Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers Scarlet Knights
While Kaliakmanis was shutdown against the Wisconsin Badgers defense, the quarterback did not have much help from the rest of the offense.
Receivers Christian Dremel and Dymere Miller were blanketed in coverage all game and could not find a way to get open for Rutgers. Wisconsin did not even bring much pressure, with no sacks being recorded for the Badgers. However, the coverage was exceptional which forced the quarterback Kaliakmanis to try and make plays happen.
The main thing holding Athan Kaliakmanis back from being a good quarterback is his complete and utter inability to throw the football. Other than that, he’s the total package.
— Dillon Graff (@DillonGraff) October 12, 2024
Unfortunately for Rutgers, the plays did not happen as the Scarlet Knights offense was completely stagnant in the first-half in particular. Rutgers managed to secure solid field position twice in the first-half of play, but gained no yardage each team and ultimately stalled.
Defensive back Preston Zachman was the man that sealed the momentum on defense for the Badgers with an interception. Zachman was excellent in coverage and seemed to be in the correct area to make a play consistently against Rutgers. Along with Zachman, Nyzier Fourqurean and Ricardo Hallman were also excellent for the Badgers as each recorded a pass defense.
Defensive back Max Lofy was a player that also stood out in the Wisconsin Badgers secondary with his play. Lofy recorded a pass defense and managed to blanket the receivers he faced in coverage, which included both Miller and Dremel. Lofy also made multiple impressive open field tackles against the Scarlet Knights which saved big time gains from occurring.
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