Wisconsin football knows it needs to be better in these 4 key areas

MADISON – Jeff Grimes has a simple philosophy for how Wisconsin's offense can be better in 2026.

“Run the ball better, and throw it better,” the Wisconsin offensive coordinator said with a laugh. “How about that? If we run and pass better, we’ll be better.”

In seriousness, though, the Badgers have room to grow in many specific areas after their four-win season in 2025. UW ranked 133rd nationally in both yards per game and points per game. The defensive numbers were better in many regards, but the unit still was far from perfect.

Here are the four areas that Grimes and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel identified as key areas for the Badgers in 2026:

Wisconsin’s defense needs more takeaways

One of Tressel’s key goals for the 2025 defense was to force more turnovers, but the Badgers instead moved in the wrong direction.

Wisconsin’s six turnovers forced in 2025 were tied for dead-last in college football. (The other two teams with six takeaways – Georgia State and Virginia Tech – had 1-11 and 3-9 records, respectively.)

“What we emphasized in the spring was opportunity awareness,” Tressel said. “We’ve always taught the technique. We’ve always emphasized it. Like a lot of people, we’ve had different takeaway circuits. But I don’t think it was on the forefront of the guys’ mind.”

Tressel emphasized that “opportunity awareness” to the point that he can now be showing film without even talking about takeaway opportunities, and he might hear a player say, “There’s the opportunity.”

“Hey, this is where the D-line’s takeaways come from,” Tressel recalled saying to his players. “This is where safeties’ takeaways come from. You need to be looking for these opportunities.”

Tressel also sees a connection between overall confidence and a defense’s ability to force turnovers.

“If you’re worried about what your assignment is or can you get your job done, you’re not worried about going and making a play,” Tressel said. “So I’ve seen that confidence grow.”

After averaging 0.5 takeaways per game in 2025, Tressel has ambitiously set a goal of two takeaways per game in 2026. (That is above what any of the 18 Big Ten teams achieved in 2025 although Indiana came close with 30 takeaways in 16 games.)

“Hopefully in some big [games] where we need more, we’re going to get more,” Tressel said. “But over the course of the year, that’s big time.”

Tressel demands dominance in third-and-long scenarios

The Badgers were not the best defensively in third-down situations in 2025, but they also were far from the worst. UW held opponents to conversions on 38.3% of third-down attempts, which ranked 59th nationally and seventh in the Big Ten.

Tressel specifically wants the Badgers to be better in third-and-long scenarios. In fact, the Badgers should be “dominant” in that area, stopping the offense on 75% of occasions.

“We say long is seven-plus [yards], but quite honestly, as we game-plan, that might shift a yard or two based on what an offense does in the situations. But 75% is dominant on third-and-long.”

Wisconsin’s struggles in the secondary surely did not help matters in those third-and-long scenarios in 2025. UW ranked 118th nationally in opponents’ passing efficiency, and the only Big Ten teams to allow more passing yards per attempt were Purdue and Rutgers.

Wisconsin’s offense focuses on taking care of ball

On the offensive side, ball security is a key priority after giving up the third-most turnovers in the Big Ten in 2025. (Only Purdue and Northwestern had more giveaways.) UW averaged 0.75 turnovers lost in its four wins versus 1.75 turnovers lost in its eight losses.

“That’s something we take a lot of pride in and will be a big marker for us this season,” Grimes said.

Thirteen of UW’s 17 turnovers lost in 2025 were interceptions. Grimes particularly wants to avoid fumbles, as “there’s just no excuse for that.”

“I look at fumbles – I don’t want to say more than interceptions because you don’t want either – but sometimes the ball gets tipped, the quarterback gets his arm hit as he’s throwing it or a DB just makes a great play on the ball. … A fumble is something that we did that was careless.”

How effective will Wisconsin’s rushing attack be?

Grimes – unsurprisingly at a school with a strong tradition of running the football – also covets having the advantage in rushing yards. UW was 4-0 in 2025 and 13-4 in the Fickell era when having more rushing yards than its opponent.

Game situations can have an obvious impact on that stat. The Badgers came out of halftime in a deficit in nine of their 12 games in 2025, which then allowed their opponents to be in more run-friendly scenarios.

Nonetheless, Grimes wants the Badgers “to be a team that’s going to run the football,” and former players who visited the team in the summer reinforced that need.

“Whether it was an offensive player or a former defensive player, they talked about how the history of running the football here and being physical at the line of scrimmage has been a big part of the formula for success,” Grimes said. “And we need to get that back this season.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin football knows it needs to be better in these 4 key areas