33. Wisconsin 21, Northwestern 7 (2016)

In an unbelievable stat, the Wisconsin Badgers had not won in Evanston since 1999, a streak that spanned four games. Not only did Wisconsin lose four in a row, they were often in gut-punching fashion, losing them by a grand total of 20 points. The Badgers were coming off two huge wins at Iowa and the previous week in overtime against No. 7 Nebraska, so it would be understandable if Wisconsin had a bit of a letdown. Northwestern came in at 4-4, but went toe-to-toe with Ohio State in Columbus and had won three in a row before that, including winning in Iowa City.

The Badgers shut out the Wildcats in the second half and had a huge sack and fumble recovery, leading to Wisconsin earn its first victory at Ryan Field in five tries. That led to a Corey Clement touchdown run, which ended up putting the game away.

In the second half, the Badgers were clinging to a 13-7 lead and Northwestern was driving into the red zone. An offensive holding penalty on Northwestern’s Eric Olson changed the entire complexion of the game. An incomplete pass and Justin Jackson run for a loss of a yard made it a 3^rd-and-21 from the Wisconsin 30.

The Wildcats were in field goal range, albeit a long one, but they decided to pass on 3^rd-and-forever and Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson was grabbed from behind by edge rusher Garret Dooley and crushed as he was ready to throw by defensive lineman Conor Sheehy. The ball came loose and was picked up by safety D’Cota Dixon, who returned it the Northwestern 45.

That set up a 9-play, 45-yard drive to put the game on ice for the Badgers. Corey Clement finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Fullback Alec Ingold plowed in for the two-point conversion to put Wisconsin in front by 14.

Northwestern did not threaten again and Wisconsin captured its seventh win of the season.

In 2015, Wisconsin “lost” to Northwestern due to a terrible overturn of a touchdown. Wisconsin had the ball at the Cats 1 with little time left, down 13-7. Quarterback Joel Stave threw a pass to the right side of the end zone for wide receiver Jazz Peavy. The Badgers receiver caught it five yards from the out of bounds marker. He took a few steps and went to the ground with possession near the out of bounds line. Only when he got up and the ball hit his knee and bounced away did he lose possession. The replay people reviewed it and called it incomplete. The Badgers fans were not too happy and promptly threw snowballs at the officials as they left the field.

It only made sense that Peavy would have a big game. With Wisconsin leading 3-0 midway through the second quarter, Peavy received a handoff on the jet sweep at the 46 of the Cats and he found all day to run. When he finally found Wildcats defenders at the Northwestern 30, he veered to his right and ran across the field and out-raced everyone to the end zone to give Bucky a 10-point lead.

Northwestern responded with an 8-play 87-yard drive to answer Wisconsin’s score. The Big Ten’s leading receiver, Austin Carr, scored from 13 yards out on a pass from Thorson. Carr got his yards, catching 12 passes for 132 yards and the score, but the Badgers shut down other weapons for the Windy City Kitties.

On the drive, Jackson had a 28-yard run to convert a third down for the Wildcats. However, other than that run, he was shut down. Besides that scamper, the vaunted Wisconsin defense held one of the Big Ten’s career rushing leaders to just 12 carries for 14 yards.

The defenses ruled the day in the second half, as Wisconsin’s field goal midway through the third quarter were the only points until midway through the fourth.

Wisconsin continued its winning streak, securing victories in the next three to grow its winning streak to six games to finish the regular season. Following a disappointing loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game, Bucky rebounded with a victory in the Cotton Bowl over the Fighting P.J. Flecks.