The Badgers had to hold on for dear life, but were able to escape Northwestern 33-24 to start the Big Ten season off 1-0. In a wild contest, Wisconsin did not look good in the first half, trailing 10-7 heading into the break. But Bucky would score 24 unanswered to take a 31-10 lead before having to hold on for the win. Wisconsin was without one of its best players, tight end Troy Fumagalli, and it showed in the first half. Wisconsin’s defense played outstanding until the final half of the fourth quarter when it let up a little after the Badgers jumped out to the 21-point lead. But the defense would put an exclamation point on the win when D’Cota Dixon sacked Clayton Thorson in the end zone with 58 seconds remaining for the final score. Jonathan Taylor only gained 80 yards, but still scored twice. Today, Alex Hornibrook played more like he did against Florida Atlantic than he did against BYU. He only went 11-of-20 for 197 yards with a touchdown and two ugly first quarter interceptions. But he improved in the second half after his ugly first half to help the Badgers win. He threw three completions of 30+ yards to jump start Bucky. No pass helped Wisconsin more than his 61-yard pass to Quintez Cephus with the Badgers down 10-7 early in the third. The next play after that pass, Taylor took it in from 11 yards out to give Wisconsin the lead it would not relinquish. Like always, I will give you some positives from this game and a few negatives.
The front seven dominated up front today. I mentioned in the preview that if the Badgers could limit Justin Jackson, Wisconsin would win. Last year, the star running back had 13 carries for 42 yards. This year, he just had nine carries for 25 yards with a long of just eight. As a team, Northwestern had 34 carries for just 25 yards. Of course, some of that was due to Thorson being sacked eight times, the most since the Badgers also had eight sacks in 2001 against Penn State. Without the sacks, they still only rushed for 66 yards. Northwestern’s best running back was freshman Jeremy Larkin, who had a career-high 37 yards on seven carries. He just had 65 yards rushing going in.
I mentioned all the sacks, and there were a lot of them. Senior linebacker Garret Dooley had three sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss, his best game as a Badger. Defensive backs even got in on the action, as Dixon and Natrell Jamerson each had a sack. The heat was on Thorson in the third quarter and halfway through the fourth. On the Jamerson pick six early in the fourth, Leon Jacobs was in the face of Thorson, forcing him to throw it quicker than he wanted to. When the defense needed a big play, the sacks came. Alec James had arguably the biggest sack of the game, on the first drive of the second half. If Northwestern converts, who knows how the game turns out? But following the sack and Wildcats punt, Wisconsin scored on its first two possessions of the second half and the Badgers took control. Of course, the game ended on Dixon’s sack of Thorson in the end zone. Bucky only had eight sacks in 2017 coming in, but doubled that total today. It was a tremendous game for the run defense and pass rush.
In Fumagalli’s absence, the young receivers emerged. Cephus had a career-high 99 yards receiving on four catches, including a career-high 61-yard catch to set up the touchdown to give the Badgers the 14-10 lead early in the third quarter. Freshman Danny Davis had 50 yards receiving and his first career score. Sophomore A.J. Taylor had a big 33-yard catch as well. The young receivers continue to impress.
Wisconsin once again came back after a slow start to win. In the first halves this year, Wisconsin has outscored opponents 65-40. In the second half, it has been 98-14 in favor of Wisconsin. The second half adjustments have been tremendous.
I mentioned the slow starts in the last paragraph. Well, that needs to change and soon. Wisconsin travels to Lincoln next week and cannot afford another dreadful start. The only really good start Bucky had was in Provo and, not surprisingly, Wisconsin ran away with the game. On the opening play of the game, Jazz Peavy fumbled and Northwestern recovered. Not a good way to begin the game. Moving forward, the Badgers will need to start strong.
The inconsistency of Hornibrook is maddening. He looked incredible against BYU. He looked like he had turned a corner. Then, this week came. The sophomore looked bad in the first half, completing just five of 11 passes for 48 yards and a pair of ill-advised interceptions. Both of his picks were not good passes, especially his second one where he threw a jump ball to Kyle Penniston and was picked off by Godwin Igwebuike, Northwestern’s best defender. Credit to him, he looked much better in the second half. However, even in completions, he was not as sharp as he was two weeks ago. Part of that had to do with Fumagalli being out, but he was not as accurate as he was at BYU. Hornibrook is the most valuable player on this team and as he goes, so goes Wisconsin’s offense.
Lastly, once the team gets a huge lead, the Badgers will need to step on the opponent’s throat. The game should have been over after Jamerson’s pick six that gave Bucky a 31-10 lead. Alas, the defense let Northwestern back in the game. There were some questionable calls that helped, but the Badgers allowed two touchdowns and they needed a Dixon sack in the end zone to seal the deal.
The Badgers did not play a great 60 minutes, but they came away with the win. That is all that matters especially without one of its best players. It is survive and advance and Wisconsin did just that. Wisconsin plays in Lincoln next Saturday night with the lead in the West Division at stake. It should be a lot of fun.
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