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.
Most players on the Wisconsin sideline seemed to know a big game was coming for redshirt senior tight end Troy Fumagalli, who had been recovering from a left leg injury the past few weeks. They could see it all week. “I thought Fum, for the first time since the bye, was playing fast in practice,” head coach Paul Chryst said.
It's now been 322 days since Wisconsin (4-0 Big Ten, 7-0 overall) lost a game, as it rolled to another easy victory on Saturday, defeating Maryland (1-3 conference, 3-4 overall) 38-13. The Badgers, led by 7 catches for 83 yards from senior tight end Troy Fumagalli, have now won four-straight conference games, overcoming self-inflicted mistakes yet another time this season. Wisconsin wasted no time harrying quarterback Max Bortenschlager, as the sophomore was pressured into an interception to redshirt junior linebacker T.J.
In just his first season of action for the Badgers, redshirt freshman cornerback Dontye Carriere-Williams shouldn’t be considered “the guy” in Wisconsin’s secondary. The Florida native was unknown to most fans coming into the season and listed below UW’s veteran cornerbacks Derrick Tindal and Nick Nelson on the depth chart. But six games into the season, it’s clear that Carriere-Williams has a sizable role in the Wisconsin secondary, effectively serving as the third cornerback and seeing the field in a variety of different packages. “He’s definitely gonna be the guy when we leave,” Tindal said.
Being from SEC country, where there are three teams called the Tigers and two called the Bulldogs, I always appreciated the Big Ten’s unique nicknames and mascots.
The Maryland Terrapins come to Camp Randall this Saturday desperately looking for a win. Following a strong display of 114 points in its first two games, the Maryland offense will come into Camp Randall looking for any kind of offense that it can put together after only scoring 69 points in its last four contests combined.
1. Saquon Barkley |Jr.| |RB| Penn State Barkley’s Stock: Neutral Saquon Barkley enjoyed a bye for week seven yet is still the favorite to win the Heisman trophy.
Maryland: 1. Get the Ball to your Superstars To say Maryland has had injury issues at quarterback is an understatement.
Week seven was quite an eventful one for the Big Ten with Rutgers topping Illinois 35-21, Northwestern topping Maryland 37-21, Michigan State slipping by Minnesota 30-27 and Ohio State dismantling Nebraska 56-14.
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