Wisconsin Football Week 5 Defensive Snap Count Breakdown and Analysis vs. Michigan State

The Badgers took care of business against Michigan State, manhandling the Spartans for four quarters en route to a dominant 31-3 victory.

Wisconsin now gets to take a breather before the toughest part of its schedule awaits: at UCLA, vs. USC and at Iowa.

But as the Badgers ride into their bye week riding high, Badgers On SI examines the defensive snap counts from the win over Michigan State as we did for the offense.

Author's note: snap count data from Pro Football Focus.

Defensive Line

Snap counts:

- Hammond Russell IV (29)
- Charles Perkins (28)
- Junior Poyser (24)
- Nolan Vils (23)
- DeNigel Cooper (22)
- Dillan Johnson (21)
- Jacob Anderson (16)

Wisconsin once again rotated seven defensive linemen into the trenches Saturday afternoon, just like it did at Penn State. It appears that regardless of the in-game situation, defensive line coach EJ Whitlow is determined to constantly rotate defensive linemen and keep bodies fresh. However, the players at the top of the room — Russell, Perkins, Poyser, Cooper — generally stay among the top players snap count-wise week in and week out.

Outside Linebacker

Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Sebastian Cheeks. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Snap counts

- Sebastian Cheeks (59)
- Tyreese Fearbry (38)
- Nick Clayton (27)
- Justus Boone (27)
- Michael Garner (7)
- Liam Danitz (3)
- Will McDonald (3)

The outside linebacker pecking order remains the same, with Cheeks and Fearbry continuing to hold down the top of the room followed by Clayton, Boone and Garner. Danitz saw his first snaps on defense all season, while McDonald got back onto the field for the first time since the Eastern Michigan Game. Garner, who played 56 snaps across the first two games, has just 10 total snaps in the previous two games.

Inside Linebacker

Wisconsin linebacker Mason Posa. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Snap counts

- Mason Posa (71)
- Cooper Catalano (71)
- Jon Jon Kamara (15)
- Thomas Heiberger (8)
- Taylor Schaefer (10)
- Aaron Witt (3)
- Drew Braam (1)

Wisconsin went deep into its inside backer room, as defensive backups got plenty of run in the comfortable blowout win. Drew Braam got his first defensive snap of the season. Kamara was involved again, though he played his second-fewest snaps all year as Posa and Catalano each played their highest snap count all season.

Cornerback

Snap counts

- Javan Robinson (71)
- Bryce West (58)
- Jai’mier Scott (48)
- Eric Fletcher (42)
- Donovan Dunmore (3)

Robinson, like Posa and Catalano, took a workhorse level of snaps defensively. Those three were the only players on Mike Tressel's defense to play 71 snaps. West once again got a heavy workload, and Fletcher continues to get plenty of playing time rotating with Scott; his 42 snaps were a season-high. Dunmore saw action for the first time since the Eastern Michigan game.

Safety

Snap counts

- Matt Jung (67)
- Marvin Burks Jr (46)
- Cairo Skanes (34)
- Carson Van Dinter (12)
- Raphael Dunn (9)
- Matthew Traynor (3)
- Grant Dean (3)

Safeties coach Jack Cooper deployed his deepest rotation yet amidst the blowout win. Freshman Grant Dean got his first snaps of his young career. Traynor also got his first snaps of the season. Otherwise, the pecking order at the top remained the same, with Jung taking the lion's share of the snaps and Burks not too far behind. Skanes' 34 career snaps were a career high.

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