New Mexico/Wisconsin review

Wisconsin overcame a slow start to run away (literally) from New Mexico 45-14 Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. New Mexico started the game with an 87-yard touchdown drive, and New Mexico was up 7-3 late in the second quarter, but the Badgers dominated final 33 minutes to turn a close game into a one-sided affair. It was the Taylor and Taylor show for the Badgers, as Jonathan rushed for a career-high 253 yards on 33 carries and three touchdowns, while A.J. caught five passes for a career-high 134 yards and a score to lead the Badgers to the win. The Badgers ran for 417 yards in the game, which is the most they have had a game in the Paul Chryst era and most since the Melvin Gordon 408-yard performance in 2014 against Nebraska. After the first drive for New Mexico, the Lobos just managed 124 yards of offense the rest of the way. The second half was Wisconsin football. It should give them confidence as they enter the more difficult part of its schedule.

To start out with the positives, I will start out with......surprise, surprise, Jonathan Taylor. The sophomore finished with a career-high 253 yards, as I mentioned before. He is the eighth running back in school history to rush for more than 250 yards in a game and first since Melvin Gordon. But once again, he fumbled. It was his second fumble in as many weeks. Before the fumble, he rushed 11 times for 50 yards. After the fumble, he rushed 22 times for 203 yards and all three touchdowns. In the drives after the fumble, Wisconsin as a team went TD, Half, INT, TD, TD, TD, TD, TD. Taylor’s backups, Taiwan Deal and Chris James, also played well, combining for 86 yards on 15 carries. Deal also made a game-changing play, tracking down New Mexico linebacker Evahelotu Tohi after an interception. A few plays later, Wisconsin got it back off a pick of its own and Bucky started to roll from then on. As a team, the Badgers ran for 417 yards and are now fifth in rush yards per game. Taylor now leads the country in rushing.

Another positive was Alex Hornibrook. The Badgers quarterback turned the ball over on what is charged with a pick, but it looked like a fumble. But other than that, he had a really nice performance. He only threw 11 passes, but completed eight for 148 yards. The other Taylor in the offense, A.J., had a huge game. Out of the 148 passing yards from Hornibrook, A.J. Taylor had 134 yards receiving. Those 134 yards receiving are the most receiving yards since Alex Erickson had 160 against Minnesota in the 2014 regular season finale. The two have developed great chemistry, and it only bodes well for the future when Danny Davis comes back and if Quintez Cephus does. He is 18th in the country in receiving yards per game (109.5) and is tied for second in the nation with six catches of at least 20 yards.

Finally, the defense did not start well, allowing a 17-play drive for 87 yards and a touchdown on New Mexico’s opening possession. On that drive, New Mexico went 4-for-4 on third downs and took 7:38 off the clock. But after that drive, the Badgers defense put the clamps on the Lobos offense. For the rest of the game (52:22), New Mexico gained just 124 yards of offense, went just 2-of-9 on third down and had the ball for less than 16 minutes. In addition to those stats, Jim Leonhard’s defense forced three turnovers, starting with an interception by redshirt freshman Scott Nelson after an interception by New Mexico put them in position to take the lead. Starting with the pick by Nelson, New Mexico turned the ball over on two straight possessions and had three in five drives. On the preview article, I challenged Wisconsin to allow fewer than 300 yards of offense by New Mexico and three touchdowns. The defense only allowed 211 yards by New Mexico, but only sacked New Mexico quarterbacks once, which makes only two for the season. That will need to improve, but I wonder if Leonhard is playing vanilla and will start bringing it once Big Ten play starts.

As a negative, the slow start was less than ideal. It took awhile to really get going, but the Badgers cranked it up to win going away. The triple option did give them some trouble, so it gives Leonhard and Paul Chryst some teachable moments, which is not always a bad thing. I’ll mention the sacks as well. The team will need to get to the quarterback more often. I will say, though, that the defense brought some heat on the New Mexico quarterbacks, which forced them to make poor passes. It is not always the sacks that do the most damage.

Wisconsin stays home for a date with the BYU Cougars at Camp Randall Stadium to round out the non-conference slate. The game will be played at Camp Randall Stadium at 2:30 CST.