After two games, Montee Ball was averaging less than four yards per carry in a close win against Northern Iowa and a loss to Oregon State. With the struggles rushing the ball, Wisconsin fired its new offensive line coach Mike Markuson and handed the reigns over to graduate assistant Bart Miller.
Utah State was not your typical “mid-major” school. The Aggies were good. Real good. Utah State would finish the season with a record of 11-2 with the two losses coming by a combined five points. The Badgers would have their hands full with Utah State, which was led by future Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen.
The struggles continued for Bucky on offense in the first half. Wisconsin only scored three points in the game’s first 30 minutes. O’Brien fumbled late in the first half, which gave Utah State great field position, where the Aggies drove the short field to give Andersen’s bunch a 14-3 lead at halftime in Camp Randall. The last touchdown came on a Chuckie Keeton 11-yard pass to Matt Austin with 29 seconds left before halftime.
Wisconsin needed a change, and that is what happened. O’Brien, who completed five of 10 passes for 63 yards in the first half, was replaced by redshirt freshman Joel Stave. The freshman would only pass for 15 yards on two completions, but he was more of a threat on his downfield passes than O’Brien.
Midway through the third quarter, with the offense still sputtering, an unlikely source gave the Badgers a much-needed lift. After a third down and short stop, Tyler Bennett came onto punt for Utah State. His punt carried Kenzel Doe to the left sideline, where he ran up and fielded the short punt. He ran along the sidelines, getting a few blocks and weaving his way through traffic. Finally, at midfield, Doe cut back to the middle of the field where there were no Utah State coverage people. It looked like Doe might get caught from behind, but he found an extra gear and was able to separate from the pack and score on the punt return to put the Badgers back in the game.
After a three and out forced by the Badgers defense, Bennett had an embarrassing 19-yard punt, giving Wisconsin a short field in an effort to take its first lead of the night.
It was a six play drive with Ball carrying the ball on every play. On a 2nd-and-8 from the Utah State 17, Ball received great blocking up front and blasted through on his way to the end zone for the 17-yard score to give the Badgers their first lead. Kyle French’s extra point was blocked, so the score remained 16-14.
The last threat of the game happened on the last drive. The Aggies looked like they were going to come into Madison and come out with a win when Keeton found Cameron Webb along the sideline for a gain of 36 down to the Badgers 15 with 59 seconds left. A controversial pass interference call on Utah State tight end Kellen Bartlett pushed the Aggies back to their 30. Three plays gained them 11 yards to put them at the 19 for Josh Thompson to come in and try to win it. But the Utah State kicker pushed it off to the right and Wisconsin was able to survive against Utah State.
This would not be the last time the Badgers would be in a dog fight. It would be a theme for the Badgers in 2012, going to overtime three times, as well as losing close contests to Nebraska in the conference opener and in the Rose Bowl to Stanford. However, this win was the turning point of their season. Wisconsin played much better following this win and nearly pulled off a huge upset in the Rose Bowl.
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