19. Wisconsin 59, Utah State 10 (2017)

Coming into the 2017 season, people thought Wisconsin had a chance to go 12-0 in the regular season due to its schedule, especially since all their challenging games were at the friendly confines of Camp Randall Stadium. However, nobody told Utah State about how great the Badgers were supposed to be. The offense had trouble moving the ball, especially on the ground. That is when they unleashed a freshman running back who helped turn around the game and help the Badgers reach their full potential.

Utah State actually took a 10-0 lead and it remained that way until late in the second quarter. Ten late points tied the game going into the half, but then Jonathan Taylor gave the team a boost, sparking them to 49 points in the second half to turn a tight game into a rout as Wisconsin was on its way to a record-breaking season.

To say Wisconsin’s offense got off to a slow start would be an understatement. In its first three drives, it gained just seven yards of total offense. On the second drive, there was a poor center-quarterback exchange and Suli Tamaivena recovered the ball and returned it to the 16. Two LaJuan Hunt runs later and it was 10-0 Aggies and the hometown fans were getting a little restless.

Wisconsin gained 33 yards on its fourth possession, but had to punt anyway. The Badgers had a 15-play drive late in the second to give them some life. Wisconsin converted five third downs, including a 3^rd-and-12 with a 15-yard pass to Troy Fumagalli. Bradrick Shaw finished off the marathon drive by crashing in from three yards out to cut the deficit to a field goal.

On the first play of the next drive for the Aggies, Kent Myers threw it over the middle, but it hit off the intended receiver Carson Terrell and ricocheted to T.J. Edwards for the interception. That led to a 29-yard field goal from Rafael Gaglianone to tie the game going to recess.

In the second half, the Badgers unleashed the freshman phenom, and Taylor provided the spark. On the first play of the second half, JT23 broke an arm tackle and raced 41 yards down to the Utah State 31 after Wisconsin rushed for fewer than two yards per rush in the first half. He ran twice more for eight yards, forcing a 3^rd-and-2. Hornibrook rolled left and found a wide open Fumagalli for a 23-yard touchdown to give Wisconsin its first lead of the evening.

After that, the floodgates opened.

Two plays into the next possession, Myers threw an ill-advised deep ball that was easily picked off by D’Cota Dixon. Three plays after that, Hornibrook dumped it off to tight end Zander Neuville, who received a terrific block from freshman wide receiver Danny Davis, and tight roped the sideline for the score and it was 24-10 less than four minutes into the second half.

The Badgers never looked back, and the freshman put his stamp on the game with an impressive 13-yard score to make it 31-10. For the game, that fabulous freshman ran for 89 yards on just nine carries. It was the start of a remarkable freshman season, rushing for 1,977 yards and 13 touchdowns.

In the second half, Wisconsin had seven offensive possessions and scored six touchdowns, not punting once. The only blemish in the half was a Chris James fumble with five minutes left in the third. The defense even found the end zone, as Barry Alvarez’s grandson Joe Ferguson picked off Myers and returned it down the left sideline 99 yards for the score.

Wisconsin didn’t make believers out of anyone that night since it was a Utah State team that won just six games, but it past its first test when facing adversity. The Badgers faced adversity in the first half, trailing for virtually the entire half as a heavy favorite, but they bounced back in a big way. It helped as the season went along when they were in more tight games. Wisconsin was able to have its best season ever and it all started with scoring 59 straight points in a win over Utah State.