We have reached halftime with the Badgers leading 14-3 over the Troy Trojans.
Time of Possession and Third Down Struggles
In their first two games, the Badgers had the ball on average 32:52. They are slightly under that pace at 15:18. Troy has nearly matched its average time of possession in the first half with 14:48. They just need four and a half minutes of possession in the second half to increase their average. Coming into this game the Trojans had converted only 25% of their third downs, but today they are 4-8 (50%). The Badgers have converted 2 of 5 third downs which is 10% lower than their season average.
QB Pressure
The Badgers have struggled getting pressure on Troy QB Brandon Silvers. He has only been hit once and is yet to be sacked. If the Badgers want to take back control of the time of possession, they need to get pressure on Silvers. Stave has also not had a lot of pressure on him as he is yet to be hit today.
Chris Orr
True freshman Chris Orr took over Leon Jacobs after being ejected for a pretty questionable call on targeting. Orr has been a solid replacement leading the team in tackles with seven. He has given head coach Paul Chryst more than he could have asked for in the first half. It will be interesting to see how he plays in the second half.
Deal and Ogunbowale
Taiwan Deal and Dare Ogunbowale have essentially split carries with nine and eight respectively. Deal converted a fourth and one, but later failed to convert on third and three in the same drive. Ogunbowale has a 17 yard touchdown which resulted from a nasty juke. Deal has looked better through the first half, but expect them to split carries again in the second half.
Run vs. Pass
The Badgers went heavy with the run for the half except for the last drive. There have been 19 running plays to only 11 passing plays.