First positive would be the play of Taylor and the offensive line. In the first half, Taylor had 17 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown. He really got going in the second half. The sophomore only had 10 carries in the second half, but made the most of them, gaining 111 yards and scoring twice. With his 208 yards on the ground, Taylor comes to within five of Heisman Trophy Award winner Alan Ameche for 11th in the all-time rushing list at Wisconsin. He is also 73 away from passing John Clay and entering the top 10. Just an average day for him would move Taylor into eighth. The offensive line paved the way for 317 yards on the ground and nearly seven yards per carry. They also allowed just one sack. The bad thing is that it cost Wisconsin its starting quarterback.
I have hammered the run defense, and rightfully so, but they played well Saturday. I know, Rutgers’ rushing attack is one of the worst in the country, but so was Northwestern and Wisconsin allowed 182 yards. So it was nice to see the run defense allow just 72 yards and less than three yards a carry. It did what it needed to do, even without nose tackle Olive Sagapolu. The 72 yards rushing allowed was the fewest number of rushing yards allowed this season and the 2.8 yards per carry allowed is the second lowest this season, only ahead of New Mexico (2.6). The return of senior safety D’Cota Dixon certainly helped. Wisconsin will need to keep it going, as it plays Miles Sanders and Penn State next weekend.
Now, the quarterback play was not very good. Alex Hornibrook started and led them to a touchdown on their opening drive, and No. 12 looked good doing it. But then, everything went downhill. On the second drive, Hornibrook threw an ill-advised pass that was picked off by Saquan Hampton. He went 2-for-2 for 39 yards on the opening possession, but was just 5-for-14 for 53 yards and two picks his final six drives. Hornibrook would then get injured on the final play of the first half on a sack. The junior was out last week with a concussion, and this likely is the injury he suffered Saturday as well. Jack Coan came in and played decent. He didn’t throw one pass in the third quarter, and Wisconsin was leading 24-3 before he even threw his first pass. He did make some nice throws, especially on third down. Overall, he was 5-of-7 for 64 yards and a touchdown to Danny Davis. It will be interesting who will start next week at quarterback.
The pass defense has been solid recently, but not in this game. Going into the game, Rutgers only had passed the ball for 138.9 yards per game, which was 121st in the nation. In this game, Artur Sitkowski threw for 261 yards on 20-of-39 passes. It was only the fourth game Sitkowski passed for more than 100 yards, and it was the second most he has thrown for in a game. The quarterback rating of 116 is the most in his brief career. This was also the first game he ever has thrown for more touchdowns in a game than interceptions. It is disappointing that Wisconsin could not force one turnover against a team that was tied for the worst turnover differential in the nation. The defense as a whole played real well in the first half, The first seven drives, Rutgers was shut out and only gained 117 yards. The final four drives after the Badgers had a 17-0 lead, though, the Scarlet Knights gained 205 yards and scored 17 points. Eh, not great. Next week, the pass defense faces a huge test as the Badgers play Trace McSorley and Penn State.
Overall, it was another sloppy, underwhelming performance. The defense has gotten better, but the Badgers just have not clicked on offense for some reason. No chunk plays. Wisconsin will need to get some turnovers next weekend, especially if Hornibrook does not play, as Bucky travels to Happy Valley to take on a Penn State team that is licking its wounds after the Nittany Lions were smashed 42-7 in Ann Arbor. Wisconsin will need a win to keep its slim Big Ten West title hopes alive.
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