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.
Week six of Big Ten football season was filled with action as the Wisconsin Badgers broke away from the Nebraska Cornhuskers on the road to win, 38-17.
When Purdue walks through the tunnel on to the field at Camp Randall Stadium, a lot of eyes will gravitate towards one player: Junior running back Markell Jones.
Wisconsin’s conference schedule grind continues this week as they take on the Purdue Boilermakers (1-1 Big Ten, 3-2 overall) at home.
Once a moderately successful program known for upsetting top-ranked opponents and producing NFL quarterbacks, Purdue football seems to have lost its way in the last few years. The Boilermakers have never been a conference powerhouse, but their consistent competitiveness — 12 bowl game appearances in 16 years from 1997 to 2012 — stands in stark contrast to their abysmal results under head coach Darrell Hazell: 9-33 overall, with just three conference wins in four years.
Week six of college football was like a buffet as it had a little bit of everything, blowouts, a seven overtime game, upsets and heart pounding last minute drives to decide games.
Alex Hornibrook is not the same quarterback he was a year ago. While he still has improvements to make, as evidenced by the costly interception he threw last Saturday versus Nebraska, there’s certainly a difference between the nervous redshirt freshman that played last season and the sophomore currently starting for the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall). “He’s a little quicker with his reads,” said senior tight end Troy Fumagalli.
Another week, another second-half surge by the Badgers. A dominant run game and a characteristically strong defense in the second half erased the memories of a generally dismal first 30 minutes and sent UW to its first 5-0 start since 2011.
The No. 9 Wisconsin Badgers (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall) are known as a slow-and-steady to win the race kind of team, but they needed a little bit more hare than tortoise in their 38-17 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-1, 3-3). It was more from necessity than by choice, though, as the Badgers started off slow and sloppy on both sides of the ball, an all too common trend this season from the leaders of the Big Ten West. Defensively, UW allowed Nebraska to march down the field on its opening drive until Wisconsin had its back against the wall in its own red zone.
No doubt things would have been different last Saturday had Wisconsin’s defensive line not picked up the slack during its sluggish first half against Northwestern.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers come into this game sitting at 3-2 overall, and 2-0 in Big Ten play, giving them a share for first place in the West division.
A week after close calls among playoff contenders, college football revealed its truly elite teams.
Aside from an upset in Minneapolis at the hands of the Maryland Terrapins last Saturday afternoon, the Big Ten had a pretty ho-hum slate of games in week five.
The Wisconsin Badgers are off to a hot start with a 4-0 record (1-0 Big Ten). They have been one of the most talented and well rounded teams in the country, reflected by their ranking of ninth in the Associated Press rankings.
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