43. Wisconsin 24, Illinois 13 (2015)

With three in the first eight games on this list being contests against Illinois, I guess it is safe to say most of the games against the Illini are pretty meh. Winning ugly was the name of the game for the 2015 Badgers with all their injuries, especially the one to stud running back Corey Clement in the opening game against Alabama. Other than the 58-0 win over Miami (OH), the Badgers hadn’t scored more than 28 points in any of the other six games, which included games against Troy and Hawaii, who combined to go 7-18 on the season. Illinois came in at 4-2 and were 4-0 at home at Memorial Stadium. The previous week, the Illini played right with an Iowa team that finished the regular season undefeated. It was a good game, but two second half touchdowns gave Bucky a come-from-behind victory over Illinois.

Each team punted the first two times it had the ball, but it set up for a wild second quarter. Illinois had an 18-yard drive off a short Wisconsin punt, which set up a field goal. Wisconsin responded with an 89-yard drive, which got started on a 35-yard pass from Joel Stave to Dare Ogunbowale. The Badgers took the lead on a terrific 23-yard touchdown catch by Robert Wheelwright. The Badgers wide receiver caught a back shoulder throw from Stave at the 5 and dove into the end zone for the score.

Wisconsin had a chance to improve the advantage before halftime, as the Badgers had the ball at the Illini 3 with less than a minute to play in the first half. But Bart Houston was picked off in the end zone by Eaton Spence, so Wisconsin had to settle for a 10-6 lead at recess.

Illinois stormed back to take the lead midway through the third quarter on a 36-yard touchdown run by Ke'Shawn Vaughn to make it 13-10 Illini. It was a five play, 86-yard drive in which four of the plays went for at least 15 yards. Quarterback Wes Lunt went 3-for-4 for 50 yards on the possession, which helped set the home team up for the lead.

But Wisconsin in the season 2015 was extremely resilient. The Badgers had an 86-yard drive of their own to respond to Illinois’ touchdown march. Alex Erickson began their possession with a 56-yard run to move all the way to the Illini 30. Seven plays later, fullback Alec Ingold blasted in from two yards out to re-take the lead for Bucky. Either by rush or reception, Erickson accounted for 73 of the 86 yards on the touchdown march. The visitors never relinquished the lead.

Following a punt, the Badgers put the game away. Wisconsin converted four third downs on a 65-yard drive to give Bucky a two-score advantage. At their own 45, Houston threw to Erickson for 23 yards on a massive 3^rd-and-12. Erickson had 10 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, which capped off this possession. The score came on 3^rd-and-Goal at the 9 when Houston zipped the ball over the middle to a Erickson, who caught the pass which was a little behind him, and the Badgers had a two-score lead.

Illinois had chances to come back, reaching Wisconsin territory in two of its final three drives, but could not march inside the 30 and turned it over twice and turned it over on downs the other drive. That included an impressive interception from Michael Caputo to seal the deal in the Badgers win.

Wisconsin had ugly win after ugly win in 2015, and it was without a doubt Chryst’s most brilliant coaching job with what he had to work with after the Gary Andersen era. The Badgers finished off with 10 wins and a win in the Holiday Bowl over USC.