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Wisconsin Badgers defense benefitting from secret weapon making life hard for opposing offenses

The Wisconsin Badgers are one of only two teams in the country that are forcing opposing offenses to go the length of the field every time they kickoff.
Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin Badgers kicker Nathanial Vakos (90) is making life hard on opposing offenses due to his booming leg on kickoffs that guarantees a touchback every time.
Wisconsin Badgers kicker Nathanial Vakos (90) is making life hard on opposing offenses due to his booming leg on kickoffs that guarantees a touchback every time. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers special teams have quietly played a major role in the small success the team has been able to muster this season.

Kicker Nathanial Vakos has been a sneaky secret weapon making life easier for the Badgers defense and tougher on opposing offenses.

Through the first four games of the season, Vakos has kicked off 17 times. 16 of those have gone for touchbacks, and one was waived for a fair catch, according to PFF.

No team has even attempted a kickoff return against Wisconsin this season, because of Vakos leg.

The only other team in the country to achieve that feat this season is Florida State.

That means every time the Badgers kick it off, opposing offenses then have to go a full 75 yards to score touchdowns.

It's tough for most college offenses to consistently execute long drives without making enough mistakes along the way to derail their efforts and settle for a field goal or punt.

The problem for Wisconsin is that their own offense has punted as many times as they've kicked off, and six turnovers have given opponents better field position than they would get on kickoffs.

Still, it's an underrated benefit to keep the ball out of the hands of dangerous return men who could have made the Badgers' losses even more one-sided.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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