For the first time in the College Football Playoff format, the Wisconsin Badgers made an appearance in a New Year’s Six Bowl game. It was not the bowl Wisconsin was looking for, as it lost a trip to the Rose Bowl by blowing a 21-point lead in the Big Ten Championship. Nevertheless, the Cotton Bowl is a big time bowl game, and was a great accomplishment for a team that many thought would struggle to even make a bowl game due to a tough schedule. In the Cotton Bowl, the Badgers played the upstart Western Michigan Broncos from the MAC, which came in unbeaten. After two easy touchdown drives by the Wisconsin offense, many thought (including myself) this game would be over quickly. But the Badgers had to hold on to escape the Broncos 24-16.
The state of Wisconsin football would own AT&T stadium. After the Packers upset of the Cowboys in the NFC playoffs, the state football teams would be 4-1 at Jerry’s World. Western Michigan would feature an outstanding offense, led by quarterback Zach Terrell and Corey Davis, arguably the best wide receiver in the nation. The Broncos were dominant in their run to the Cotton Bowl, winning every game except for two by at least 15 points. The Badgers, on the other hand, were rarely pretty, but got the job done. They also were battle tested, playing seven games decided by one score. This would end up being number eight.
Wisconsin would receive the opening kick and motor down the field with ease. The first three carries for the Badgers gained 46 yards, moving them down to the Broncos 34. Bucky faced one third and long on the drive, and Bart Houston found tight end Troy Fumagalli down the seam, who made a tremendous one-handed catch down to the Western Michigan 12. That was the second of two third down conversions on the drive for the Badgers. Three plays later, Clement crashed in from two yards out to put Bucky on the board first.
After one first down, T.J. Watt crashed in on a Western Michigan third down to force a poor throw and the Broncos had to punt. Then, the Badgers offense went back to work at their own 12. Following a short run from Clement, Wisconsin had three consecutive plays of at least 20 yards to move the ball down to the 18. A nice run from Ogunbowale would put the ball on the doorstep and would blast his way in from a yard out to give the Badgers a 14-0 lead. Bucky was making it look easy against the MAC champs. Too easy, in fact.
Everybody knew the undefeated Broncos would not go away quietly. Wisconsin out-gained Western Michigan 166-46 in the first quarter. Starting at its own 35 early in the second quarter, Western Michigan would drive 20 yards and face a 3rd-and-12 at the Wisconsin 45. The Broncos received a massive break when the officials failed to call a holding when Vince Biegel was closing in on Terrell. That break gave Terrell time and he found Jarvion Franklin for seven yards to set up a manageable 4th-and-5. The Broncos went to the reliable Corey Davis on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Seven plays later, Terrell ran in from two yards out to cut it to 14-7. Game on!
The final score of the first half would belong to the Badgers, though. On a 2nd-and-11 from their own 24, the Badgers ran the Jazz sweep and Peavy ran down the right sideline for 51 yards down to the Broncos 25. Wisconsin nearly ran the remainder of the clock out in the second quarter, and would settle for an Andrew Endicott 30-yard field goal, which made it 17-7 going into halftime. It was a 9-play drive that traveled 63 yards, lasting 5:09.
Wisconsin would be unable to get its offense going the entire second half. Western Michigan, on the other hand, would travel 65 yards in 11 plays to move into field goal range. The Badgers defense would hold and Butch Hampton made the short field goal to cut it to 17-10. Franklin had two carries for 29 yards on the drive and Davis added a 17-yard reception.
Wisconsin and Western Michigan would trade punts throughout the rest of the third quarter. One one of the punts, Broncos return man Darius Phillips muffed it, but would recover it. That would be a theme in the game. In the game, Western Michigan would fumble the ball four times and would recover each one of them. The score would remain 17-10 until the fourth quarter.
Each team would have just two possessions in the final quarter. The first drive for the Broncos just lasted one play. T.J. Edwards is a former Western Michigan commit, but flipped his commitment after being recruited by then-Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda. He is the best coverage inside linebacker in the Big Ten, and proved it in 2016, limiting opponents to a 57 passer rating when passing against him. With the Broncos backed up to their own 3, Edwards took it upon himself to give the Badgers a two score lead back.
On the first down play, Terrell went back to pass from his own end zone. He threw an ill-advised pass into tight coverage and Edwards picked it off. There were three Badgers around the pass and Edwards and Leon Jacobs both had a chance to intercept it. If the two linebackers had not collided, Edwards walks into the end zone, but Bucky had to settle for a first down at the 12. After two plays, Wisconsin had gained just four yards on two Clement carries to set up a 3rd-and-6 at the 8. Alex Hornibrook, playing in his first game since the second quarter of the regular season finale against Minnesota, went to his big tight end in the end zone to give the Badgers a 24-10 lead. On the touchdown, Hornibrook went back to pass and was hit right as he threw and Fumagalli made a great catch in the back of the end zone. That made it a two touchdown lead for Bucky with 12:26 remaining.
Even though a little more than 80 percent of the quarter was still remaining, there would only be two drives the remainder of the game. The Broncos would use up nine minutes on a 16-play, 75-yard drive to cut the deficit back to one score again. Davis would cap off the drive on an incredible 11-yard catch on fourth down in the end zone, over the back of Sojourn Shelton. If he failed to catch it, Shelton likely would have been called for pass interference. Twice on the drive, P.J. Fleck’s crew fumbled, including one that I still have no idea how Wisconsin failed to recover it. Alas, Broncos players were able to recover both fumbles, and they went onto score on the drive with less than three and a half minutes to go. The extra point was missed, so it remained a 24-16 lead for Bucky.
With only two timeouts remaining, the Broncos chose to go with an onside kick, which was recovered by the Badgers. Two plays gained two yards and Fleck called a timeout with 2:35 left. With the game on the line, Houston found his big target Fumagalli again, all alone. He slid down at the Western Michigan 20 for a big first down. Fullback Austin Ramesh would seal the deal with another third down conversion with just over a minute left and Wisconsin had the win.
Most had the Badgers finishing around .500 on the season and struggling to make a bowl, so an 11-3 record was very impressive. It also was a springboard for Bucky's record-breaking 2017 season. It was the first Cotton Bowl win in the first Cotton Bowl appearance for the Badgers.
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