There’s no question that Rafael Gaglianone deserves an enormous amount of credit for Wisconsin’s 23-21 win over Nebraska last Saturday. To have the mental fortitude to put two misses behind him, including one just 1:22 earlier is incredible to see from a college kicker, especially a sophomore from Brazil who’s gained infamy more for his celebrations than his placekicking skills.
After the game, Gaglianone attributed his steady state of mind to his relationship with punter Drew Meyer and long snapper Connor Udelhoven, stating that it never crosses his mind that there will be a snafu with Udelhoven’s snap or Meyer’s hold. This trust allows Gaglianone to focus solely on factors he can control, which include his mental state of being in addition to correctly lining up his kicks and striking the ball cleanly.
That trust is refreshing amid a team that has been in a strange two-week daze after its excruciating loss to Iowa, and it’s a relationship that should be adopted by the entirety of Wisconsin’s roster.
That being said, Gaglianone’s late heroics overshadow a growing pattern of inconsistency across Wisconsin’s special teams.
While Gaglianone has made nine field goals on the season now, which is tied for 15th nationally, his 60 percent success rate ranks 91st among kickers who have played in 75 percent of his team’s games and have a minimum of 1.0 field goals per game played. This is miles off of his phenomenal rookie season, when Gaglianone drilled 19-of-22 attempts, good for an 86.4 percent success rate.
Whatever has been bugging Gaglianone clearly didn’t get to him on his game-winning kick, but he’s now 1-of-3 on kicks between the 30 and 39 yard line and 6-of-10 from 40-plus. Given Wisconsin’s sputtering offensive performance of late, Gaglianone will need to find the consistency that allowed him to stand out during his freshman season to give the Badgers something to show for its drives that lose steam in enemy territory.
Futhermore, Meyer’s punting has been all across the board, which dramatically hurts the Badgers’ field-position game and has put its defense in tight situations all year long. With the exception of a punt that, with the aid of a swirling wind at Memorial Stadium, stuck on the Cornhuskers’ 1-yard line in the third quarter, Meyer’s punting was again suspect against Nebraska. Meyer had a pair of touchbacks in the first quarter which were disappointing considering he was operating from Wisconsin’s 47 and 40. Those are situations where it doesn’t require a great amount of touch to drop the ball within the 20 to allow the return team to make a play on it, which would dramatically help a defense that already has a razor-thin margin of error.
After the pair of touchbacks, Meyer ripped off punts of 31, 22 and 12 yards, giving the Huskers the ball on their own 38, 50 and 42, respectively. Meyer’s 38.97 yards per punt ranks 94th in the country, and its starting to become a real problem that UW will need to consider fixing soon, whether it means asking Meyer to adopt a new style, or to turn to someone else.
Wisconsin’s defense looked susceptible Saturday for the first time since Alabama, and its offense dragged through the good part of three quarters before it finally hit its stride. While the special teams deserves credit for the win in Lincoln, it’s lagging behind the other phases of the Badgers’ team, and its going to start costing them games if they continue to play in low-scoring affairs.
