The Badgers scored two touchdowns in the first four minutes
of the game and were never threatened, as Wisconsin drilled the Hurricanes by
32 points to finish the season 8-5. Wisconsin out-gained Miami 406-169, including
rushing for a whopping 333 yards and forced five Miami turnovers.
Looking back on it, the opening kickoff was an omen for the
entire game for Miami, as Bubba Baxa booted the first kickoff of the game out
of bounds. Jonathan Taylor rushed for 28 yards in his first four carries to set
the Badgers up to take the first lead. With Wisconsin facing a 3rd-and-9 from
the Canes 35, quarterback Jack Coan received great protection and found an open
Kendric Pryor inside the 20 and he waltzed the rest of the way for the 35-yard
score. Coan threw for nearly half his yardage total for the game (73) on the
one play.
Malik Rosier got the start for Miami at quarterback, but you
could tell how his night would go after just one pass. Rosier went back to pass
on the first offensive snap for the Hurricanes and he stared down his receiver
and was picked off by Eric Burrell, who returned it to the Miami 7. The
following play was a Taylor touchdown run and Bucky had a 14-0 lead just four
and a half minutes into the game.
The third possession was going well for Wisconsin as well,
but with the ball at the Miami 22, Coan broke out of a sack on third down and
floated it down the sideline, but it was picked off on a diving interception at
the 8 by safety Jaquan Johnson. A 62-yard run by Rosier set up Miami’s only
points of the evening on a 33-yard field goal by Baxa to cut it to 14-3.
The previous season, Miami had led Wisconsin 14-3 in the
Orange Bowl before the Badgers stormed back to win. In this game, Wisconsin led
14-3.
Unfortunately for Miami, this game didn’t follow a similar
script.
However, Wisconsin missed two field goals late in the second quarter that would have really put the game out of reach.
After scoring two touchdowns in the first two minutes, the
Badgers did not score again until three and a half minutes remained in the third
quarter. Miami was driving, aiming to make things interested. Facing a third
down at the Wisconsin 36, Rosier rolled out and tried to fire a pass, but it
was picked off by T.J. Edwards.
Wisconsin began the drive with two Taylor runs for 54 yards
to move it to the Canes 5, including a 41-yard run. Two plays later, fullback
Alec Ingold plowed in from two yards out to give the Badgers a 21-3 lead.
Two possessions later, Caesar Williams picked off new Miami
quarterback N'Kosi Perry and returned it to the Miami 34. With the ball at the
7, Coan ran one in to put the game away. Since Taylor was having such a
terrific game, the defense ganged up to stop him, but Coan rolled out and
jogged in untouched for the fourth timefor the score.
The Badgers tacked out another score with eight seconds left
on a Taiwan Deal touchdown run. But even though the offense was really good in
the second half, the defense was even better. In Miami’s five offensive drives
in the final 30 minutes, the defense held the Hurricanes to just 37 yards of
offense and two first downs.
This win gave them big time confidence going into the 2019
season and was a springboard as they had a really good team in 2019, going to
the Rose Bowl once again for the fourth time in the decade.
No comments:
Post a Comment