Locke experiences good and bad as Badgers lose to lowly Indiana – Superior

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Braedyn Locke’s second bid to lead a comeback on the road for the University of Wisconsin football team didn’t have the storybook ending of his first.

Locke, the redshirt freshman quarterback for the University of Wisconsin football team, had the ball five times in the second half down by less than a touchdown. The Badgers gained 107 yards on 30 plays (3.6 yards per play) in those series and didn’t score in a 20-14 loss at Indiana.

Locke went 21-of-41 passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns, his highest yardage output in his three starts this season and tying his career-best in completions and touchdowns. He also didn’t turn the ball over for the second week in a row.

But Locke was shaky when the Badgers needed him most. He was 6 of 12 on third down, and both of his scores came on third-down throws, but three of those incompletions came in the fourth quarter and he took a sack on a third down early in the fourth quarter that knocked the Badgers out of field goal range. The sack was a well-designed stunt on third-and-long by the Hoosiers, but Locke had 3 seconds from snap to contact, per a BadgerExtra stopwatch.

Locke went 0-for-2 passing on fourth down, failing to complete throws to the flat out in the first and fourth quarters. The first was batted at the line, and the second was a poor throw that missed Will Pauling.

“I was (a) little bit wary about them tipping balls, because they had done it throughout the game,” Locke said. “But I take full responsibility for that. (I’ve) got to deliver a better football on fourth down.”

Senior quarterback Tanner Mordecai, whose broken hand has had him sidelined for three weeks, threw passes in early warmups. Badgers coach Luke Fickell said he didn’t have a timeline on his return.

“Hopefully it’s getting close, but it’s hard to tell,” Fickell said. “When guys don’t practice much during the week, it’s really difficult to say you’re going to put them out there.”
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