What We Learned From LSU's Win Over Wisconsin

In the wake LSU's stunning come from behind win against Wisconsin on Saturday night, we learned plenty of things about both teams. Some things we already knew, or at least intrinsically knew about it, and other issues were unknown.

This article will focus on both teams, but more so on Wisconsin because they provided us more lessons than LSU.

1) Wisconsin is not ready for primetime - This notion stems from before head coach Gary Andersen's time with the Badgers. Wisconsin made three straight bowl games following the 2010 through 2012 seasons with Bret Bielema. Wisconsin lost all three of those Rose Bowls to TCU in 2011 (21-19), Oregon in 2012 (45-38), and Stanford in 2013 (20-14). Wisconsin played the 2013 Rose Bowl with Barry Alvarez as the head coach.

Sure, Wisconsin did win the first two Big 10 Championship Games, but they struggled in bowl games over the last four years. The three Rose Bowls have already been mentioned, but Wisconsin struggled against South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl last season. Until the Badgers show the ability to consistently beat top tier opponents, there will be question marks about how good they really are.

2) LSU is extremely talented, but how good are they? - We all knew LSU was talented, as they are virtually every year, but the question remains just how good of a team they are. Travin Dural's speed, John Diarse's strength, and Trey Quinn's smarts will make those trio of receivers difficult to defend. Anthony Jennings appeared to gain confidence in the second half and Kenny Hilliard gashed the Badgers' depleted defensive front in the second half.

The concern comes on defense. Wisconsin ran at will against the Tigers for the first 32 and a half minutes of the game. The Tigers eventually exposed the Badgers' inability to throw the ball, but how will they fare against a team that can run AND throw the ball? The three teams that come to mind immediately that have the ability are Alabama, Auburn, and Texas A&M. Alabama was balanced in their game against West Virginia with 250 yards passing and 288 yards rushing. Both T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry had over 100 yards rushing.

Auburn showed the ability to pass and throw against Arkansas, though it came as a by-product of Nick Marshall's half game suspension. Jeremy Johnson threw for 243 yards in the first half. When Marshall came into the game for the second half, Auburn went to the running game, as noted by Marshall's 50 yards passing. Should anything happen to Marshall, or the run game fails to come alive, the offense will continue to thrive for the Auburn Tigers.

Finally, we come to Texas A&M. Yes Kenny Hill threw for 511 yards passing against South Carolina in A&M's crushing victory over South Carolina, but that ability to sling the ball around should open up the ground game. For a team that did so well throwing the ball, the Aggies also ran for 169 yards on the ground. The ability to showcase both styles of offense could prove very dangerous for LSU down the road, particularly against the three SEC West foes in Alabama, Auburn, and Texas A&M.

3) Wisconsin needs to develop ANY type of receiving threat - This is a given, as is the lesson of the defensive line below. Alex Erickson led the Badgers with 3 catches for 33 yards. Tanner McEvoy threw for only 50 yards. Those stats are horrendous and will not win many games for the Badgers, even with Melvin Gordon running for 160 yards a game.

The lack of receiving threat was noticeable throughout the second half. The Tigers stacked the box knowing McEvoy had no one to throw the ball to. If Wisconsin developed a fast receiver with decent hands, it would an immense help. That receiver could stretch the field and possibly open up the passing lanes for other receivers.

It is imperative that Wisconsin develops their passing game. If not, they could be looking at a subpar season.

4) Wisconsin's lack of depth on defensive line was the beginning of their downfall - Gary Andersen made no secret that the Badgers were short on depth in their front three on defense. His worst nightmare came true early on when lineman Konrad Zagzebski suffered an injury in the first quarter and was taken off the field on a stretcher. It got worse at the end of the third quarter when Warren Herring had a fellow Badger roll up on his right leg. He clearly hurt is right knee and was ruled out the rest of the game, which was essentially the fourth quarter. The tide turned in LSU's favor with Herring's injury.

It is bad enough to lose reserve players, but losing two starters in the first three quarters of the opening game was detrimental to the Badgers. Compounding the problem is that Wisconsin was already replacing the entire front seven coming into the season.

After that, LSU was able to run, and pass, at will against the Badgers in the fourth quarter. That allowed LSU to turn a 24-13 deficit into a 28-24 lead with the Badgers showing no real signs of threatening to score.

There will have to be some sort of depth developed by the Badgers if they are to reach 10 wins. It may require moving players from offense to defense or linebacker to defensive end or nose guard, but something has to been done to bolster the depth along the defensive line.

5) The Badgers' secondary still looks shaky - In 2013, the Badgers lost four games, mainly because they could not stop the pass. There were several times against LSU that leaves worries about the secondary. The first instance was Travin Dural's ability to beat the secondary, which led to an 80 yard touchdown pass from Anthony Jennings. He got past the corner and safety and then burned both of them to reach the end zone untouched.

Then there was Dural's 44 yard catch in the early part of the third quarter. The coverage was actually pretty solid by Sojourn Shelton, but Lubern Figaro was burned as the lone safety. It was a great throw and catch, but Figaro was out of position. Of the three plays mentioned here, this is probably the most forgivable.

This last play is not forgivable. It was the Jennings to Diarse 35 yard touchdown pass on third and 21. The route was nothing spectacular with a 10 yard hitch ran by Diarse. The tackling was spectacularly horrendous. Joe Schobert, Devin Gaulden, Lubern Figaro, and Darius Hillary all had a chance to make the tackle, with the first three having a chance to do so before the first down marker.

Diarse made a great play and show the determination to get to the end zone, but the tackling on that play was atrocious. Plays like that need to disappear for Wisconsin to have the ability to beat a top tier team on a consistent basis.

6) Melvin Gordon's disappearance in the second half - Where was Melvin Gordon in the second half after his 63 yard run to start the third quarter? There was no explanation given by Gary Andersen after the game while Gordon and Corey Clement did not provide a reason for his absence.

It is hard to imagine a 24-7 lead against LSU as a time to give Corey Clement an opportunity for more carries. After his 63 yard run, Gordon got three carries for a total of 1 yard. Clement finished the game with 45 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.

For whatever reason Gordon was not in the game, there is no doubt his absence hurt the Badgers. The offense was not the same and allowed LSU to focus on stopping the running of Clement and McEvoy. The Tigers were able to get the Badgers in third and long situations constantly to make it a predictable passing situation.

While it was just one game, it provided plenty for both teams to work on over the course of the season. Both teams have great opportunities to work on the areas of need, as they both face FCS opponents. Wisconsin will play against Western Illinois next week in a game sure to feature more emphasis on the passing, though there will be plenty of Melvin Gordon and Corey Clement running the ball.

LSU will face Sam Houston State on Saturday. They will be playing at night in Death Valley, which gives them a great chance to work on their run defense and work out their offensive kinks.