9. Wisconsin 59, Nebraska 24 (2014)

Four. Oh. Eight. Say those three numbers to a Wisconsin football fan and they’ll know exactly what game you're talking about. When people came into Camp Randall Stadium on November 15, 2014, they thought they would just be seeing a heavyweight fight between the two top contenders in the Big Ten West. Little did they know, they would also be witnesses to history. Melvin Gordon rushed for a then-FBS record 408 yards in a 59-24 thumping of the Cornhuskers. Gordon broke LaDainian Tomlinson’s 15-year-old record of 406 yards against UTEP is 1999. There were a number of things that were incredible about Gordon’s performance, but what was truly remarkable is that he did it in just three quarters. If he would played the fourth, he would have easily had 500 yards rushing. He also did it only 25 carries, 18 fewer carries than Tomlinson back in 1999 and nine fewer than Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine needed to break Gordon’s record the following week. In a game that featured two Heisman candidate running backs, this was no contest, as Wisconsin’s defense held Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah to 69 yards on 18 carries. Considering how big the game was, the performance by Gordon and the weather, this will go down as one of the most memorable days in Camp Randall history.

The game may have ended beautifully, but it started horribly for Wisconsin. After a run by Gordon for a loss of a yard, Tanner McEvoy handed it to wide receiver Kenzel Doe. The receiver was hit after a gain of six and fumbled the ball. Nebraska recovered and would start at the 29. It would be the first of three first half turnovers for the Badgers that would dig them into a hole early on. Fortunately, the stingy Wisconsin defense would hold the Cornhuskers to a field goal after the turnover and Nebraska had an early 3-0 lead.

As if the game could not have started any worse for the Badgers, Bucky’s offense went three-and-out on their second drive and backup quarterback Bart Houston’s punt predictably went only 18 yards and Nebraska started its second possession in Wisconsin territory once again. Five plays later, Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw a touchdown to the left corner of the end zone to Kenny Bell and Nebraska took a 10-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.

Melvin Gordon would rush on the first two plays of next possession and he would gain 47 yards, including a 42-yard run down the left sideline down to the Cornhuskers 28. Gordon would also play a big role on the next play, as McEvoy would run for 19 yards on the play, but would fumble. Gordon was Johnny-on-the-spot for Wisconsin and recovered it for the Badgers, keeping the possession. The Badgers would kick a short field goal off that possession and Wisconsin cut it to 10-3.

Bucky Badger was giving out gifts early on a little more than a month before Christmas. On a 3rd-and-2 from the Wisconsin 31, Gordon was given the ball and was stuffed at the line of scrimmage and he fumbled. Zaire Anderson recovered for Nebraska and the Cornhuskers had the ball at the Badgers 30. Nebraska went on an eight-play drive to put six more on the board. All eight plays were runs by Abdullah and Armstrong. The touchdown was scored by Armstrong on a 5-yard run. On the touchdown, Wisconsin brought a blitz up the middle and it was picked up well, and Armstrong ran to the left and walked in for the score. It was 17-3 and the Camp Randall crowd was in shock.

When it looked like Wisconsin was going to go three-and-out on the next drive, Joel Stave came through. With Nebraska bringing Anderson on the blitz off the corner, Stave threw a perfect pass Jordan Frederick for a first down. Stave threw it where only Frederick could make a play on it and the Badgers picked up a much-needed first down up to the Wisconsin 38. Gordon did the rest. Stave was shaken up on the last pass after being drilled in the ribs by Anderson, so everyone knew Gordon would get the ball after a timeout. On the carry, Gordon ran around the right sideline. The offensive line blocked it perfectly and blocked everyone to the inside. Gordon found the edge and used his speed to race down the field before hurdling Nebraska’s Corey Cooper at the Cornhuskers 35 and jogging the rest of the way for the 62-yard touchdown. Gordon proved that you can shut him down for an extended period, but eventually, he will break a long one. After that score, he had nine carries for 115 yards. Two caries resulted in 104 yards and the other seven were for a total of 11. This score put the Badgers right back into the game, trailing 17-10.

The defense would pick it up as well. The unit would force a three-and-out by Nebraska. But the turnover bug bit Gordon once again. After a run of 16 yards to pick up a first down and move into Nebraska territory, Gordon fumbled again and Trevor Roach recovered for the Cornhuskers. It was Gordon’s second fumble of the day and the third turnover for the Badgers. At that moment, Wisconsin fans thought that if the Badgers would stop turning the ball over, Nebraska would not be able to stop them. And that is what happened.

Once the game ended and Gordon had the single-game rushing record, I was thinking of a game this reminded me of. Then it dawned on me. For all of the Packers fans out there, this reminded me of Ryan Grant in Jan. 2008 in the divisional round of the playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks. Two of Grant’s first three touches of the game were fumbles, which helped Seattle take a 14-0 lead. Then, he redeemed himself in a big way, rushing for a Packers playoff-record 201 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-20 comeback win. It was not just the performance, but also the weather. It was a big game, and the snow was falling. It was a tremendous scene in both games.

After the fumble gave Nebraska terrific field position at its own 41, the Cornhuskers picked up one first down before giving it right back. Three consecutive runs gained 14 yards, but on the fourth straight run, Terrell Newby fumbled and Joe Schobert recovered for the Badgers. From that point forward, Bucky dominated the game.

The Badgers would take the lead with two touchdowns in two possessions to end the half. Gordon would take over after his second fumble. He started out the drive with a run of 39 yards down to the 17. On the run, Gordon tried to run inside, but found no room and bounced outside and slipped a tackle at the line of scrimmage before finding green in front of him. On the first down carry from the 17, Corey Clement found a crease and broke a tackle at the 10 before carrying a defender and lunging into the end zone for the score. The extra point was good and the game was tied at 17.

Wisconsin’s defense forced another three-and-out by Nebraska on the next drive. The Badgers would take the lead on their next possession. Gordon had another big run, this one of 44, down to the Nebraska 31. A 9-yard run by Gordon and 13-yard reception by Doe put the Badgers inside the Nebraska 10. Three plays later, Wisconsin faced a 3rd-and-Goal at the 5. That is when Stave found tight end Sam Arneson for the score to give the Badgers their first lead of the day. It would stay 24-17 the remainder of the half. Gordon rushed for 238 yards in the first half, while Armstrong completed just one of 10 passes.

Nebraska had a few chances to begin the second half to tie it up. On a 3rd-and-13 play early in the third quarter, Armstrong threw a screen to Abdullah, who ran for 26 yards up to the 48. But then Armstrong gave it right back to the Badgers. He threw one of the worst passes I have ever seen a quarterback throw. After receiving the snap, he got away from Vince Biegel and launched a pass deep down the field intended for Bell, but he overshot him and it was picked off by Peniel Jean. It was basically a punt to Jean and the Badgers started with the ball at the 17.

Wisconsin would go three-and-out and Drew Meyer had a short punt, so Nebraska started its possession at the Badgers 38. But Wisconsin would close the door on Nebraska, as it was the Cornhuskers’ turn to be turnover prone. On Nebraska’s first play after the punt, Armstrong handed it off to Abdullah and he was met in the back field immediately by Biegel. The Wisconsin linebacker not only tackled Abdullah, but knocked the ball free as well. Jean recovered for the Badgers and they had the ball at the 42 to begin their drive.

Enter Gordon, who would have 170 yards rushing in the third quarter alone. Wisconsin would go 58 yards in just four plays to give Bucky some breathing room. After a Stave pass to Erickson and McEvoy run, Wisconsin was faced with a 2nd-and-9 at the Nebraska 44. That was no problem for Gordon, as he rushed for 43 yards down the left sideline to the 1, where he punched it in on the next play. That would be the first drive of four consecutive possessions that would end with a Wisconsin touchdown.

Wisconsin’s previous record for most rushing yards in a game was 339 yards by Ron Dayne against Hawaii in 1996. Gordon smashed that with a 68-yard run down the right sideline down to the 6. On that run, the offensive line opened up a huge hole and Gordon wasn’t even touched until the Nebraska 15. On the next play, he went in standing for the score. With the score, he had 369 yards on the ground, just 37 behind Tomlinson.

Gordon played the role of decoy on the following drive, and it worked out just as well. On the 58-yard drive, Gordon had just 13 yards rushing, but had a hand in all of them. With Wisconsin facing a second down and short, Stave faked it to Gordon and Clement and handed it Doe on the sweep. He broke the tackle of Gregory in the backfield and was able to run down the right sideline for 31 yards down to the 20. Some of that was Doe, some of that was the fake to the running backs, but a lot of that was due to really poor tackling on the part of Nebraska. He gained 22 more yards after a horrible tackle attempt by Nebraska linebacker David Santos. Four plays later, McEvoy scored on an 11-yard touchdown. It was an easy touchdown by McEvoy, as Gordon came in motion and all the attention went toward Gordon and McEvoy just jogged in for the 11-yard score.

But the Badgers were still not done in the third quarter. After 6-yard pass on first down, Armstrong and Abdullah fumbled the exchange and Marcus Trotter fell on the loose football to give Wisconsin the ball at the 26. After an incomplete pass on first down, Wisconsin went back to Gordon. With the star running back just 24 yards away from the record, he was on the verge of history. He took it to the right side and broke through the through the first wave of defenders and received a block from Erickson to spring him for the 26-yard score to give him the FBS single-game rushing record. It gave Wisconsin a 52-17 lead at the end of the third quarter and vaulted Gordon into the Heisman discussion.

In the fourth quarter, the teams traded touchdowns. After his record-breaking touchdown run, Gordon sat out the fourth quarter. The third running back, Dare Ogunbowale rushed for the final touchdown for Wisconsin. After another turnover by the Cornhuskers, Ogunbowale rushed every time on an eight-play drive that went for 49 yards and the touchdown. With the score by Ogunbowale, the Badgers scored 56 unanswered points after spotting the Cornhuskers 14-point lead. Nebraska would score late, but the game was already decided.

Like I said earlier, the game vaulted him into the Heisman Trophy discussion. He would come in second in New York to Oregon’s Marcus Mariota. The 408 yards would be broken by Perine a week later in a game against Kansas. But still, this remains one of the great moments in the history of Camp Randall Stadium. He would go onto have the second most rushing yards in a single season in NCAA history, only falling 41 yards behind Barry Sanders. He also has the record for highest yards per carry in a career with 7.79. With all of those records broken or nearly broken by No. 25, this game will still go down as the signature game in Melvin Gordon’s career as a Wisconsin Badger.