Week 10 was once again a banger in college football, especially in the afternoon games. Just like last week, the 2:30 time slot was filled with upsets, great games and a ton of shake-ups for the committee to deal with.
When the Badgers played a tight game against Purdue just a few weeks ago, the biggest play of the game wasn’t a Jonathan Taylor touchdown or a Troy Fumagalli catch, but rather, an interception inside the Badgers’ 20-yard line which helped ice the game and keep Wisconsin’s unbeaten season alive.
In a relatively chaotic weekend in college football, the Big Ten conference provided the most dramatic upsets for a college football fan to gorge on.
The last time the Wisconsin Badgers started a season 9-0 was in 2004. After beating Indiana 45-17 last Saturday, this year’s team tied that benchmark. UW’s defense was relentless all day long as they stifled the Indiana run offense holding them to a measly 40 yards on 21 attempts.
In this week’s Cardinal Zone Football Podcast, sports editor Ben Pickman and men’s basketball beat writer Lorin Cox preview Wisconsin’s upcoming matchup against Iowa.
This year ESPN released a list called “Ranking the happiness of every college football fan base.” The survey took into account program power, rivalry dominance, coaching stability, recruiting trend, revenue growth and Twitter buzz.
No.4 Wisconsin (6-0 Big Ten, 9-0 overall) overcame an early 10-point deficit Saturday at Indiana (0-6, 3-6) en route to a decisive 45-17 victory. After a first-quarter interception, redshirt sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook rebounded with an 18-yard touchdown pass to junior fullback Alec Ingold with 10:28 remaining in the half. Just over four minutes later, Hornibrook doubled down on his efforts, giving Wisconsin a 14-10 lead with an eight-yard pass to sophomore wideout Quintez Cephus. The Badgers never gave their lead up after that, as true freshman running back Jonathan Taylor scored in the third quarter to put Wisconsin up by 14.
Saquon Barkley, Junior RB- Penn State It happened — Saquon Barkley had a “bad” day.
With close games, some Ames magic and the first big coach firing, week nine in college football was spooky enough to live up to the Halloween weekend hype.
In a wild and hectic week nine on the national college football scene, the Big Ten certainly didn’t disappoint.
The Wisconsin “football factory” has been working overtime this season to produce quality running backs in a seemingly neverending army of talented ball carriers in the backfield. At the start of the season, everyone was expecting a two-headed monster of redshirt sophomore Bradrick Shaw and redshirt junior transfer Chris James to carry the load, but they were quickly overshadowed by freshman Jonathan Taylor, who at one point looked like a darkhorse Heisman candidate. Now, entering Week 10 against the Indiana Hoosiers (0-5 Big Ten, 3-5 overall), the Badgers (5-0, 8-0) will be relying on redshirt freshman Garrett Groshek and redshirt senior graduate transfer Rachid Ibrahim to power the all-important rushing attack. Taylor and James are questionable for Saturday’s game with left leg injuries, while Shaw is still active in the rotation but running at less than 100-percent health. Groshek has seen his playing time steadily increase in each of the previous three weeks, from two carries against Purdue up to 12 last week in Illinois.
Aaron Thatcher, an actor who portrays University of Wisconsin mascot Bucky Badger has been struggling to separate his work and home life lately, according to his girlfriend. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Cardinal, Thatcher’s girlfriend Alexis Martin divulged that he has now assumed the role of Bucky at all times. “I don’t even recognize him anymore,” Martin, who lives with Thatcher, said.
Heading into the final third of the season, the Indiana Hoosiers looked to play the role of The Little Engine That Could — both so close to climbing over the mountain, yet so far.
Michael Dieter finally got to live the glory he was always forced to watch as a bystander. Late in the fourth quarter against Illinois, the Wisconsin Badgers dialed up a trick play.
The Chinese philosopher Confucius once said that “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” William Shakespeare echoed him, saying “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” If these erudite thinkers were indeed correct, then I must be the wisest man of all time when it comes to the College Football Playoff rankings.
CHAMPAIGN, ILL.— Two years ago, when Garrett Groshek first arrived at UW-Madison, he had little to no experience at the running back position.
The most important member of the No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers’ defense in their 24-10 win over Illinois might have been the guy who didn’t play a single snap. Redshirt junior safety D’Cota Dixon sat out of the game after testing his injured left leg in warmups, but he still found a way to make a major impact in his team’s victory.
CHAMPAIGN, ILL.— After its first nine plays on offense, No. 5 Wisconsin (5-0 Big Ten, 8-0 overall) had amassed a mere 13 yards.
In a few weeks, once winter strikes Madison, Nick Nelson will spend more time figuring out what he’s going to wear around campus than what he was previously used to.
Early in the second quarter against Maryland Saturday, sophomore wide receiver Quintez Cephus caught the ball in the middle of the field and wiggled loose for a 30-yard gain. In the short term, Cephus had set up the Badgers with a scoring opportunity at the Terrapins’ three-yard line, and freshman running back Jonathan Taylor converted the chance on the next play. On a broader level, however, Cephus’ catch was more than just a handy chunk play for Wisconsin.
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