The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes (7-1 ACC, 10-3 overall) had the rare opportunity to host their own bowl game, but after four quarters of the Capital One Orange Bowl, the No 6. Badgers (9-1 Big Ten, 13-1 overall) owned the field at Hard Rock Stadium.
INDIANAPOLIS — As the confetti floated down from the rafters of Lucas Oil Stadium, the Wisconsin Badgers were left reliving the nightmare they faced 12 months earlier. Their second-straight Big Ten Championship Game was a chance for redemption in an undefeated season, but when Ohio State quarterback J.T.
Minneapolis — The No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers (9-0 Big Ten, 12-0 overall) don’t have a secret recipe for an undefeated season.
Freshman Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor took the first carry of the game up the middle, untouched for the first nine yards of a 13-yard run.
In a back-and-forth, sometimes brutal Big Ten battle against the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines (5-3 Big Ten, 8-3 overall), the No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers (8-0, 11-0) needed their quarterback to step up and be the difference-maker. Alex Hornibrook delivered, with one of the biggest games of his young career in UW's 24-10 victory. Doubt lingered through the the first half of the game.
The No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers (7-0 Big Ten, 10-0 Overall) still have a bad taste in their mouth from the last time they faced No. 19 Michigan (5-2, 8-2). When the undefeated Badgers travelled to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines in 2016, they struggled through a brutal 14-7 loss that put the season in perspective and forced Wisconsin to get back on track. “They were a pretty sound, physical defense, and they kind of kicked our butt that day,” redshirt sophomore right tackle David Edwards said.
Field position isn’t a sexy stat, but it makes all the difference in a tight game where neither offense can consistently sustain long scoring drives. Lost in the defensive dominance and late offensive push by the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers (7-0 Big Ten, 10-0 overall) was a redemption story for sophomore punter Anthony Lotti, who repeatedly flipped in the field in its 38-14 win over the No. 25 Iowa Hawkeyes.
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.
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 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.
Over 300 kids attended the Russell Wilson Passing Academy camp Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
The 2015 Russell Wilson Passing Academy camp also has stops in Raleigh, N.C., Dekalb, Ill., Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, Wash. and Los Angeles, Calif.
It happened again. The Badgers hit the Minnesota wall and fell in the Frozen Four on the Gophers' home ice.
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