I mentioned that there were a number of similarities between the two games. Well, the game started very similar to the matchup in East Lansing. In the first meeting, Wisconsin would score the first 14 points of the game. They scored on the first possession, and recovered a fumble and turned that to six points as well. In this meeting, the Badgers would take a bit longer to open up the two score game. Just like normal, Wisconsin would start out handing the ball off to Ball early and often. The star running back would start by running the ball the first five plays of the game, running for 53 yards. That was followed by Russell Wilson’s first pass of the game, a 22-yard strike to Nick Toon down to the Spartans 6. Three plays later, Wilson would hit Duckworth in the end zone for a 3-yard score and the Badgers took the 7-0 lead.
Michigan State would come right back, though. Nick Hill had a nice kick return up to the Spartans 41, where Sparty would take over. Five of the six plays on the drive were runs. On the first play, Le’Veon Bell rushed for 26 yards to move into Wisconsin territory. A pass to Keshawn Martin moved the ball to the 20 and Michigan State would score on an 8-yard touchdown run from Edwin Baker and the Spartans would tie the game.
Bucky would receive great field position after the kickoff went out-of-bounds. Ball would pick up one first down before facing a 3rd-and-2 from the Michigan State 41. If you remember earlier in the season in a 59-7 win against Indiana, Ball received a pitch from Wilson and he then threw to the quarterback who ran snuck around the opposite side. Ball threw it to Wilson, who was wide open. Wilson caught the ball and walked in for the score. In this game, the Badgers ran the same play. It was much more impressive against the great defense of Michigan State. On the play, Ball would receive the pitch and throw it back side to Wilson. The Wisconsin quarterback would catch the ball and run down to the 9. Two plays later, Ball would score from six yards out and the Badgers took the lead right back, 14-7.
I told you that the Badgers would take a 14-point lead. It would happen late in the first quarter. After having a great kickoff return on his first attempt, Hill would turn it over on his second attempt. Hill would return it to the 25, but Conor O’Neill forced a fumble on the return and it was recovered by Jacob Pedersen for the Badgers. Two plays later, Ball would crash in from six yards out once again and the Badgers took a 21-7 lead late in the first quarter. That was the good news. The bad news is that these would be the last points of the half for the Badgers.
Much like the last meeting, Michigan State dominated the second quarter. In the game in East Lansing, the Badgers were outscored 23-0 in the second. In this meeting, the Badgers were outscored 22-0. Michigan State was driving as the quarter ended, but on the first play of the second quarter, Sparty was facing a 4th-and-1 from the Wisconsin 30. Kirk Cousins would go back to throw and find B.J. Cunningham wide open and he would run all the way to the end zone for the 30-yard score and the Spartans would cut it to seven.
Michigan State would put the clamps on the Wisconsin offense in the second quarter. The Badgers would have four possessions in the quarter and every single one of them ended in a three-and-out. The Spartans offense, however, would continue to roll. Cousins would pass for 42 yards on this drive, moving Michigan State to the Wisconsin 10. Then, Cousins found Nichol to the 7, but Nichol would pitch it to Cunningham, who ran it the rest of the way for the touchdown. Brad Sonntag ran in on a two-point conversion and the Spartans had the lead for the first time in the game.
KeShawn Martin had a great drive to help put the Spartans ahead by eight to end the half. Martin caught two passes for 41 yards, while also running for eight on the 84-yard drive. Bell would cap off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown. Cousins had 58 yards passing on the drive. After another three-and-out by the suddenly cold Wisconsin offense, Michigan State's Dan Conroy would miss a 51-yard field goal as time expired and the score was 29-21 at the half.
Bret Bielema couldn't have been more excited to see the second quarter end. After being ahead by 14 at the end of the first quarter, Michigan State owned the second once again. Wisconsin's defense had to set the tone early in the second half and did just that. Facing a 3rd-and-1 on the opening drive, Cousins handed it off to Bell and he was stuffed. He tried to find room, but could not find any and would lose seven yards on the play and Michigan State had to punt.
With the defense forcing a big three-and-out on Michigan State's first offensive possession of the third quarter, the Badgers offense finally woke up. After going three-and-out on all four drives in the second quarter, Wisconsin would need a big drive. The Badgers were facing a 3rd-and-3 on their own 45 and on the verge of having a fifth consecutive three-and-out, but Wilson found Toon for six yards to move into Spartans territory. Wisconsin would move to the 35, but would go backward the next few plays. The Badgers would face a 3rd-and-17 on the 42. Many expected the Badgers to play it safe, but Wilson would drop back to pass. Spartans defensive back Johnny Adams came free on a blitz, but would miss and grab Wilson's face mask instead. After Wilson was able to escape Adams, he launched a pass to an open Abbrederis in the end zone for the touchdown. Abbrederis' touchdown cut it to 29-28 and let people know that Bucky's offense was back.
Michigan State received great field position at the Badgers 48 after a punt from Wisconsin deep in its own territory. The first two plays went for a combined nine yards, but a penalty on the Spartans forced a 3rd-and-6. Five more yards was no problem for Sparty. On the third down play, the Badgers brought the blitz, but could not get home and Cousins found a wide open Cunningham running from left to right. He would outrun Wisconsin defenders to the end zone untouched for the 44-yard touchdown. The Badgers would limit the big plays in the second half, but Michigan State would be able to get this one. This gave the Spartans a 36-28 lead with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter.
But the Badgers would not go away, as Abbrederis would return the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to his own 48. Wisconsin would gain one yard in two plays to set up a 3rd-and-9. Wilson threw it to 'ol reliable Duckworth for 14 yards to the Spartans 37 for a first down. That would be the first of three consecutive double-digit yardage completions. Adams was whistled for a pass interference to set the ball at the 2. Ball was tackled for a loss of three on first down, but he would make up for it with a touchdown reception on the next play. On the 2nd-and-Goal from the 5, the Badgers would run a shovel pass. Wilson would take the snap out of the shotgun and pitch a forward pass to Ball, who would run it in for the score. The two-point attempt was no good, so Sparty maintained the 36-34 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Wisconsin's defense could not afford to give up a touchdown on this Spartans drive. Michigan State would drive down the field after having great starting field position at the Spartans 40. Bell would rush for 13 yards on the 52-yard drive. Cunningham, who continued his great night, also rushed for 24 yards to move Sparty into the red zone. Wisconsin would hold Bell to five yards in two carries to force a 3rd-and-5 at the Wisconsin 8. The Badgers defense needed to hold the Spartans to a field goal. Cousins would throw a pass over the middle to Martin, who was well-covered on the play. Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland would dive and knock the ball away to force the field goal attempt. Conroy kicked a short field goal to give the Spartans a 39-34 lead with eight and a half minutes to go in the game.
Now the fun really began. Wisconsin had the ball with 8:20 to play down five. You got the feeling that the Badgers needed a touchdown on the drive in order to win. Wisconsin would face a huge third down on the Badgers 42. Wilson calmly found a wide open Abbrederis on the left side for 11 yards into Spartans territory. Four plays later, Wisconsin faced a fourth down on the Michigan State 43. If people were to remember one play from the game, it would be this one. If you were to mention the name Jeff Duckworth to any Badgers fan, he/she would smile and this play would immediately come to mind. A Rose Bowl berth was on the line for the Badgers. Wisconsin had a 4th-and-6 with 4:20 to play. The Badgers went for it, fearing that they might not get the ball back if they were to punt. Wilson received the snap and had a little pressure and rolled off to his left. For a second, he thought he maybe could run, but the Spartans linebackers were spying and started to rush him. So Wilson launched it across the field. In the last meeting, it was an unlikely hero in Nichol who made the game-winning play on a Hail Mary. This time it was Duckworth who caught what was basically a Hail Mary. Wilson launched a pass to Duckworth inside the 10. The Badgers wide receiver went up and grabbed it in between two Spartans defensive backs. Isaiah Lewis misjudged the ball and the other was a bit late in getting over to help out and Wisconsin had the ball at the 7 with four minutes to play. On the very next play, Ball would blast his way in for the score standing and the Badgers had their first lead since very early in the second quarter. Pedersen caught the two-point conversion and Wisconsin had a 42-39 lead with 3:45 left in the game.
Michigan State only needed a field goal to tie the game up and good starting field position near the Spartans 40. The first two plays gained two yards and Michigan State was forced with a 3rd-and-8 from their own 39. Cousins would be flushed to the left and fire a pass to Martin along the sideline. It was a ruled a spectacular grab with Martin getting one foot in. But the play would go to review and it was ruled that it was incomplete, so the Spartans would have to punt and rely on their stingy defense to get their offense the ball back. The punt would be caught by Abbrederis at the 19.
The Spartans had two timeouts and they used them after two consecutive runs by Ball, which gained five yards. So the Badgers had a 3rd-and-5. One first down would seal the game. The question would be what the Badgers would do, pass it and risk an incompletion or run it and run more clock? It turns out it would be a Ball run for two yards and it would bring up a 4th-and-3. Those two yards would be critical because Nortman would come onto punt. The Spartans came after the punt and Nortman kicked a line drive that was fielded by Martin at the 33, and the Michigan State returner found daylight along the left sideline untouched until he was pushed out of bounds by Nortman at the Wisconsin 3. But there was a flag. Running into the kicker on Michigan State. First down Wisconsin. Ball game! On the punt, Nortman left his leg up in the air and Lewis for Michigan State hit his plant leg. Lewis did not hit Nortman’s leg very hard, but the Wisconsin punter fell down and sold the call. With all of the calls that were not called in East Lansing, Sparty deserved this called on them.
Wilson would take a knee three times and the Badgers would make the return trip to Pasadena in an incredibly entertaining conference championship game. I know Michigan State won on a last minute play against Iowa in the 2015 Big Ten Championship game and last year's was a very good game as well, but this one is at the top in terms of Big Ten Championship games. It just had everything you could ask for in a football game. It was a heavyweight fight that went the distance, but in the end, Wisconsin was the team standing at the end.
I hope you enjoyed my countdown of the memorable games for the Wisconsin Badgers in the last 16 years. I hope I could refresh your memory on some of the Badgers biggest games in the history of Wisconsin football. I know some people may not agree with the order, so if you disagree, feel free to leave a comment. I hope everyone has a great time watching Wisconsin open the season against Utah State under the lights tomorrow night at Camp Randall Stadium.
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