Overlooked in the Wisconsin Badgers’ (3-2 Big Ten, 6-2 overall) ugly overtime win over the No. 7 Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-1, 7-1) was a historic performance by redshirt senior running back Dare Ogunbowale.
The backup only carried the ball 11 times, but his 10.9-yard average for 120 total yards on those runs was the highest per-carry average for a Wisconsin running back in a game (min. 10 runs) since Melvin Gordon broke the NCAA record with 408 yards against Nebraska back in 2014.
“The way he can make people miss when he gets out in space is pretty lethal,” redshirt sophomore center Michael Dieter said. “He’s quick side-to-side, he makes good decisions when he has to and it shows up.”
Ogunbowale showed up when he was needed most. Five of his runs picked up first downs, capped off by his game-winning 11-yard overtime touchdown run, and he was often the only spark on an offense that was stagnant for much of the game.
Wisconsin experimented more with its two-quarterback offense and garnered very little success from it. Both redshirt senior Bart Houston and redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook threw bad interceptions and neither was able to get into a rhythm.
Even starting senior running back Corey Clement couldn’t get much going on the ground. Up until his 41-yard fourth-quarter run, he was averaging just 1.9 yards-per-rush, frequently swallowed up by defenders near the line of scrimmage.
“You really can’t be frustrated,” Clement said. “I just really stuck with my O-line and believed in them and waited for them to give me the road to glory.”
The blocking for all of the Badgers’ running backs seemed to improve as the game went on and the offense committed more to the ground attack. Wisconsin handed it off only 13 times in the first half compared to 21 in the second. In overtime, the team ran the ball four-straight plays to get the touchdown.
It was fitting that Ogunbowale’s first carry, a huge 14-yard third-down run from his own three-yard line, was the exact same play as his last, the game-winning 11-yard touchdown in overtime.
The Badgers were in the same formation and called the same run, and the running back made the same cut on the same block by Dieter pulling to the outside, breaking the tackle of the linebacker in almost the exact same spot and racing the safety toward the sideline.
Wisconsin spread out the Cornhuskers’ defense with a lot of three-wide receiver looks from the shotgun, and Ogunbowale was able to take advantage of their lighter personnel.
“I just think that it was something that we got into and we noticed it was working,” Dieter said. “It wasn’t one particular thing, but once you pick up on that—success getting outside and stuff like that where you’re spreading them out—it’s something that you’ve got to get back to, and that’s what we did.”
The Badgers got back to running the football consistently, and ultimately it was enough to put them over the top. Certainly, the defense deserves plenty of credit, but this was a game that Ogunbowale won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
