12. Wisconsin 48, Nebraska 17 (2011)

It was a night game at Camp Randall. College Gameday was there. It was the first Big Ten football game ever for the University of Nebraska. It was a matchup of two top 10 teams. What more could you want? The setting was perfect and the weather was perfect. It was a fantastic night for football in Madison. Wisconsin was coming in at 4-0, demolishing each team in the process. In Bucky’s four wins to begin the year, he won by an average of 40 points per game. However, the schedule was about to get much tougher. The combined record at the end of the year for Wisconsin’s non-conference opponents was 22-27, but that includes the 6-5 FCS record of South Dakota. Nebraska was also coming in at 4-0. The defense was surrendering a bunch of points, but the offense was as potent as any in the conference. The Cornhuskers were averaging nearly 43 points per game, and with the Badgers averaging nearly 49 per game, most figured this would be a shootout. Wisconsin did its share, but the Badgers defense forced Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez into a number of mistakes and Bucky turned what was a close game at the start into a one-sided contest. It did not help that during his head gear pick, Lee Corso picked Nebraska. That will teach him to mess with Buckingham U. Badger.

Wisconsin and Nebraska each would punt on their first possession, but on the Nebraska punt, Jared Abbrederis had a nice return near the Wisconsin 40, but would fumble and Kenny Bell for the Cornhuskers fell on it at the 39. It took Nebraska nine plays to score the first points of the night on a Martinez 1-yard run to give the Huskers a 7-0 lead. Martinez would have 29 combined yards rushing and passing on the drive.

It looked like Nebraska was building up momentum after the kickoff when Wisconsin was called for holding and had to start at its own 9 to begin the drive. No problem for Bucky’s offense. Four straight double digit yardage plays after a short Montee Ball run will help. Wisconsin started out with a Wilson pass to Abbrederis for 18 yards. After a pass interference and a Ball 10-yard run, Wisconsin had a 1st-and-10 at the Nebraska 46. Wilson dropped back to pass and quickly was under pressure. He escaped the first rusher and rolled out to his left and juked out another to run for 21 yards and a first down at the 25. Ball would do the rest of the damage on the drive, getting five carries to gain those 25 yards to put the ball in the end zone. The touchdown would come when Ball crashed in from a yard out with 1:27 to play in the first quarter.

Nebraska would come right back, though, on the strength of the arm of Martinez. On the 74-yard drive, Martinez was 3-of-3 on the drive for 66 yards. His 28-yard pass to tight end Ben Cotton down to the Wisconsin 1 set up the touchdown by Rex Burkhead to give the Huskers the lead right back. The Nebraska quarterback also rushed for 13 yards on the drive.

The rest of the half would be all Bucky Badger. On the first play after the kickoff, Wilson threw a deep ball into double coverage intended for Nick Toon. The wide receiver hauled it in over two defenders, giving the Badgers a first down at the Nebraska 39. Wisconsin would be called for a holding penalty a few plays later to set up a 1st-and-20 at the 32. Wilson would find Jacob Pedersen over the middle for a 28-yard gain to move the Badgers down to the 4. Two plays later, Ball scored his second touchdown of the game. The extra point was blocked, so the score remained 14-13.

After a pair of punts, Nebraska had the ball facing a 3rd-and-16. Martinez rolled out to the right and fired across his body to the middle of the field. Predictably, it was picked off by Wisconsin linebacker Mike Taylor, who returned to the Wisconsin 46. Six plays later, the Badgers took the lead. With Wisconsin facing a 3rd-and-3 at the Nebraska 36, Wilson faked a toss to Ball and went deep to Abbrederis. The sophomore receiver made a diving catch at the goal line off a great throw by Wilson. The tremendous touchdown grab gave the Badgers the 20-14 lead with 2:03 left in the first half.

But the Badgers were still not done. And Martinez was not done giving Bucky gifts. The Nebraska quarterback passed to Jamal Turner for 26 yards to midfield, but would give it away three plays later. Martinez looked to the left and overshot Turner and was picked off by Aaron Henry and he brought it back to the Badgers 37. Two passes from Wilson to James White moved Wisconsin to the Nebraska 46. Two plays after that, Wilson threw a perfect pass deep over the middle to Toon in between defenders for a 46-yard touchdown with 32 seconds left in the half.

Nebraska’s Brett Maher would miss a long field goal attempt at the end of the first half and the Badgers led 27-14 at the half, so Bucky still had all the momentum heading into halftime.

Much like the start of the second half between the two teams in the Big Ten Championship game two years later, Martinez threw a pick to begin the half. This one was intercepted by Antonio Fenelus, who returned it to the Huskers 42.

Ball rushed for 27 yards of the 42 yards on the touchdown drive, including converting a fourth down on a 2-yard run to the 10. On the following play after the fourth down conversion, Wilson faked it to Ball and around the left side, escaping a would-be tackler and going in for the 10-yard touchdown. The Wilson score put the Badgers in front 34-14.

After a punt by the Huskers, Wisconsin would put the game away with a 14-play, 81-yard drive that ended with Ball’s third touchdown of the game. The drive started with a third down conversion on a tight end middle screen to Pedersen for 16 yards. Ball rushed for 24 yards on the drive and the touchdown. The score by Ball was one of the more impressive plays of the game. Wilson handed the ball off to Ball and was initially stopped, but he kept fighting and would break free for the score. That made it 41-14 and the game was over.

The Cornhuskers would kick a field goal early in the fourth to cut it to 41-17. However, Wisconsin would put the final nail in the Nebraska coffin on a 73-yard drive to put the Badgers in front 48-17. This was a 13-play drive with every one of the plays being a run. Ball rushed for 43 yards on the drive, including the 15-yard touchdown. Ball would rush for 151 yards and four touchdowns in the game. Even with the nice drive put together by the Badgers, the most impressive part of the drive was the Wisconsin fans singing “Build Me Up Buttercup” in unison. It was that kind of day for the Badgers, as they rolled the Cornhuskers in their first test of the season.