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.
The Badgers, taking on another Big Ten opponent, continued their undefeated season with a 17-9 win over Purdue.
After upsetting then-No. 23 Texas 51-41 on the road in their season opener, the Maryland Terrapins (1-2 Big Ten, 3-3 overall) have had a rollercoaster season.
Friday the 13th is supposed to be a haunting and crazy night, and it turned out to be just that for college football as No. 2 Clemson and No. 8 Washington State were upset.
At a press conference preceding their next game, the Washington Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, announced that the team will be changing their mascot to a humanoid potato before the current NFL season concludes.
First things first: Wisconsin’s offense needs to get on the same page, the special teams need to fix whatever happened on that punt, the defense needs to stop waiting until their opponent is beyond midfield to start making stops, the mistakes and penalties need to be cut down and Jonathan Taylor needs to be a serious Heisman candidate. Now, let’s talk a little about Camp Randall. Halftime of Saturday’s game featured a triumphant tribute to a century of history at our beloved stadium.
For the first 15 minutes of their 17-9 win over the Purdue Boilermakers (1-2 Big Ten, 3-3 overall), the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers (3-0, 6-0) played like an undefeated powerhouse rolling over the rest of their conference opponents. Then, an early second-quarter interception by redshirt sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook became the catalyst for three quarters of sloppy football from an offense that left UW looking vulnerable despite their perfect record. Purdue climbed back to make it a one-score game late in the third quarter, and Wisconsin held on.
On a gloomy Saturday afternoon, more than half of Wisconsin’s student section was still filing into Camp Randall Stadium as freshman running back Jonathan Taylor and the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers (3-0 Big Ten, 6-0 overall) opened the floodgates on the Purdue Boilermakers (1-2 Big Ten, 3-3). Taylor, on only Wisconsin’s third play from scrimmage, knifed through the Boilermaker defense, breaking two tackles, for a 67-yard touchdown run.
The numbers didn’t lie last Saturday night when the Badgers rushed for 353 yards en route to a 38-17 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Andre Taylor was known as “Bigg Dogg,” and he called everybody he knew Bigg Dogg. Not everybody, though, was a Bigg Dogg. That distinction meant everything to his son, Quintez Cephus, and when Taylor was murdered in April, the Wisconsin Badgers’ wide receiver needed to be a Bigg Dogg more than ever. “That’s just what he used,” Cephus said.
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