Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin football vs Western Michigan score, live game updates, highlights, predictions in 2024 season opener tonight
By Christopher Kuhagen and JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
4 hours ago
Welcome to the 2024 season, Wisconsin Badgers fans! The Badgers host Western Michigan under the lights at Camp Randall Stadium to get things going in a rare Friday night game.
We'll have live coverage within this file throughout the Badgers-Broncos game. Be sure to refresh your browser for the latest updates.
After a long first-down pass into the end zone found nobody close, Chez Mellusi was held to a short gain on second down, and a pass over the middle to Mellusi rattled incomplete on third down. That set up a 36-yarder for Nathanial Vakos, and he sent it wide right.
We're still scoreless with 6:57 to go in the first quarter. Bad start for the Badgers red-zone offense.
Tyler Van Dyke has his first rush attempt of the season (5 yards) and a first-down completion to wide receiver Bryson Green, plus another first-down pass to tight end Tucker Ashcraft, who rumbled all the way down to the 19-yard line.
First red zone opportunity with 7:50 on the clock in the first quarter.
Wisconsin, facing 4th and 1 at its own 40, keeps the offense on the field and gives the ball to Tawee Walker, who has more than enough to keep the series going.
Tawee Walker, the transfer from Oklahoma, is the star of the first series and records Wisconsin's initial first down of the season. After a short rush, he caught Tyler Van Dyke's first pass attempt for 8 yards, then gained another 5 to move the chains.
Walker actually catches Van Dyke's second pass, too, a safety-valve connection for about three yards.
Jalen Buckley rushes for 2 yards on first down, tackled by Ben Barten and Darryl Peterson, and then Buckley can't handle a swing pass on second down that glances off his hands. Jaheim Thomas easily cleans up a rush from quarterback Hayden Wolff when he didn't have any options deep. It's a three-and-out, and the Badgers get the ball back quickly with 13:30 on the first-quarter clock.
Wisconsin won the toss and deferred to the second half, and kickoff specialist Gavin Lahm sent the kickoff into the end zone. There's no modified kickoff here in college just yet; you'll have to wait for that until the NFL season opener next week.
Western Michigan takes it at the 25 and we're off!
Few players have endured the lengthy list of injuries that Aaron Witt has faced in his career, but he's stuck with football at Wisconsin and still has tantalizing potential. The outside linebacker is healthy and warming up with the first-team defense before this game, so it appears we'll see him tonight.
Western Michigan won't have its best receiver tonight; Kenneth Womack, who led the team in receptions and receiving yards last year, has a broken hand and is out. He was a a first-team All Conference pick in the MAC last year. That's obviously a big loss for a team that's already the heavy underdog.
Joseph Griffin Jr., a wide receiver transfer to Wisconsin from Boston College, is also not suited up tonight even though he's not on the injury report.
It's always fun to keep an eye on newcomers with the Badgers, and none will be more high profile than starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. But here are five other players I'm fascinated to see in a Badgers uniform tonight
Wide receiver Trech Kekahuna. He's not strictly a newcomer, given that he saw some action last year at the end of the season during his true freshman season. But he didn't lose his redshirt and still has freshman eligibility, and all indications are that he will be a major additive to the passing game. He also just changed his number from No. 12 to No. 2; high-profile switch! Nyzier Fourqurean went from No. 10 to No. 3, by the way.
Running back Tawee Walker. The running back situation remains a little bit of a mystery, even though it seems pretty obvious that Chez Mellusi and Oklahoma transfer Tawee Walker will be the "thunder the lightning" early. Walker played at times in camp like a No. 1 back, and though Mellusi is obviously the elder statesman and a guy who's triumphed over injury, the distribution of carries between those guys interests me. Where does Jackson Acker fit in? Where do exciting freshmen Darion Dupree and Dillin Jones fit in as the season progresses?
Inside linebacker Jaheim Thomas. The Auburn transfer spent most of his college career playing with Luke Fickell and Cincinnati, so I don't expect it'll take long for Thomas to make an impact. I suspect he won't be hard to miss out there.
Outside linebacker John Pius. He wears No. 0 so I suspect he'll also be easy to find. The William and Mary transfer is leveling up this year and is atop the depth chart at outside linebacker.
Punt returner Tyrell Henry. The late-arriving transfer from Michigan State isn't likely to get many opportunities early as a receiver, but he's got a lot of special-teams experience at his previous stop. The Badgers haven't always been all that dynamic in the return game lately, and this could be a welcome change of pace.
There aren't really any surprises on the injury report for Week 1, with a handful of players who have been battling camp injuries.
They are:
Quincy Burroughs, wide receiver
Thomas Heiberger, outside linebacker
Leyton Nelson, defensive lineman
Barrett Nelson, tackle
Rob Booker, tight end
James Thompson Jr., defensive lineman
Second-string right tackle Barrett Nelson is perhaps the biggest surprise if there is one, since he had been available for the last Badgers practice before the game.
Heiberger, a true freshman, had been one of the eye-opening newcomers in camp but he's been sidelined for a while.
Beer is available in the coolers at Camp Randall Stadium, where alcohol is for sale in the general seating areas for the first time. Prior to 2024, Wisconsin was one of just three Big Ten schools who didn't sell alcohol to the general public at football games.
You may be coming into this game knowing very little about Western Michigan, given that they're picked to finish seventh in the MAC and, under normal circumstances for a power-conference program, should probably be a relatively easy hurdle to clear.
The caution comes in the bevy of returnees they have, including their five eligible all-conference selections. That includes running back Jalen Buckley, a redshirt freshman who cleared 1,000 yards last year.
Under center is redshirt senior Hayden Wolff, a big quarterback (6-5, 235), who wasn't the full-time starter until the final five weeks of the season last year. And when he played, he performed. On the metric of passing yards per game, he's the No. 2 returnee in the conference.
Redshirt senior offensive tackle Adam Vandervest (Verona)
Redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Chad Schuster (Franklin)
Junior defensive lineman Marcel Tyler (Racine St. Catherine)
Muraski is listed as the No. 2 left tackle on the two-deep, with Schuster No. 2 at right guard and Tyler at No. 2 at defensive tackle. Vandervest started one game last season (at right tackle) and played in nine games overall. Tyler played in every game last season and recorded six tackles.
Live stream: Fox Sports App with your TV provider; DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, YouTube TV and Vidgo TV, Fubo ( free trial for new subscribers ).
Tyler Van Dyke takes over the Badgers' starting quarterback job after four years with the Miami Hurricanes.
He brings a lot of experience to Madison, having started the last three seasons. He won ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2021, in his redshirt freshman season. Miami finished 7-5 that season.
Will Luke Fickell's squad begin the season 1-0? Our Badgers football beat reporters believe so, though they're split on if the Badgers will cover the 24-point spread.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local Wisconsin State
Most Popular
Comments / 0