Tuesday, August 3, 2021

32. Wisconsin 61, Central Michigan 0 (2019)

In 2018, wide receiver Quintez Cephus missed the season due to an investigation regarding sexual assault. He was found not guilty and was allowed back with the Wisconsin Badgers for the 2019 season. The Badgers were playing their first home game of the season after destroying South Florida 49-0 the previous week. In his return back, Cephus caught three passes for 39 yards in the blowout win. He made his presence felt in a week two demolition of Central Michigan.

Cephus caught six passes for 130 yards and two late second quarter scores, as the Badgers led 44-0 at halftime on their way to an annihilation situation, destroying Central Michigan 61-0, their biggest blowout since the 83-20 win over Indiana in 2010. Wisconsin held the Chippewas to just 58 yards of total offense. The defense posted two shutouts to begin the season and had allowed just 215 total yards and 41 yards rushing in the two games, the team's lowest two-game totals since at least 1998.

To show you how dominant the Badgers were, the Badgers had 12 possessions….and punted just once. With the Badgers in front 30-0, Coan and Cephus provided the knockout punch. With less than five minutes to go in the first half, Coan launched a pass to an open Cephus down the left sideline for the 26-yard score. Following a 3-and-out, the pair connected again. On a five play drive spanning 80 yards, Coan found a pass down the right sideline for the big play wide receiver for the 44-yard score to finish off the scoring in a high-scoring opening 30 minutes for the Badgers.

It did not take long for Wisconsin to put a dent in the scoreboard. Running back Jonathan Taylor and wide receiver Danny Davis combined for all 63 yards on the drive with Taylor totaling 40 of those, including reaching paydirt from four yards away.

It went to 9-0 after Central Michigan punter Brady Buell dropped the snap on a punt and he was tackled, fumbling it out of the back of the end zone. On the ensuing possession, Taylor scored his second touchdown of the game with a 2-yard run to make it 16-0 at the end of the first.

Two possessions later, Bucky took advantage of a Jack Sanborn interception by scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Coan to Taylor. Nakia Watson scored a touchdown on the possession after that to make it 30-0. That set up the final two touchdowns of the half by Cephus.

The second half didn’t fare any better for the Chippewas, as the Badgers scored 17 points on their first three drives to make it 61-0. Taylor scored one more for good measure and backup running back Garret Groshek found the end zone to end the scoring.

For the game, the Badgers outgained CMU by a whopping 599-58. Coan’s 363 yards passing ranks fifth in school history. His 276 passing yards in the first half of the game is the most in program history.

The Badgers went on to shut out four of their first six opponents as the unit led them to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 2012 season.

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