31. Wisconsin 33, Northwestern 24 (2017)

Wisconsin was the heavy favorite in the Big Ten West and a challenger to go to the College Football Playoff due to its relatively soft schedule. The Badgers had done nothing to make people uneasy about those expectations, as they had begun the 2017 season with three wins by an average of 33.3 points per game and had come off a 40-6 blowout at BYU, a game that was supposed to be one of the biggest tests of the season.

However, if you know anything about this Wisconsin-Northwestern rivalry, it is that anything can happen. The previous game the teams played at Camp Randall Stadium was in 2015 when Jazz Peavy caught the game-winning touchdown, but replay reviewed it and ruled it incomplete….for I don’t know what reason. In 2014, Wisconsin out-gained the Cats by nearly 40 yards, but turned it over four times. In 1996, Wisconsin was on the brink of closing out Northwestern in Madison, but Ron Dayne fumbled and the Wildcats scored a last-minute touchdown to win. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. This series is wild.

This one was another crazy one, as the Windy City Kitties actually led 10-7 at halftime, but Wisconsin scored 24 consecutive points in the first 21 minutes of the second half. Bucky had to hold on, though, as Northwestern scored two straight touchdowns to cut it to 31-24 and just forced the Badgers to punt. The Wildcats had to travel 98 yards in 1:05, but on the second play of the drive, Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson was sacked in the end zone by D’Cota Dixon to seal the game and Badgers fans could breathe a sigh of relief.

Most Wisconsin/Northwestern games go down to the wire and after the first half, the 2017 contest was shaping up to do the same. But Wisconsin was not ready to cooperate. The Badgers scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the second half to grab a 21-10 lead heading into the final quarter.

The game changed on the third play of the second half for Wisconsin’s offense. After forcing a Northwestern punt, the Badgers were on the brink of doing the same, facing a 3^rd-and-3 from their own 28. Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook faked the run with running back Chris James and then took a shot deep down field. Big play threat Quintez Cephus was behind the defense, catching it and galloping all the way to the Cats 11 for a 61-yard play. On the very next play, star freshman Jonathan Taylor ran 11 yards untouched to give the Badgers the lead back.

After a short Northwestern punt and solid return by Nick Nelson, the Badgers needed to go only 38 yards on their second possession of the half. On 2^nd-and-10 from there, Hornibrook threw a dangerous pass to the right at the 30. It was narrowly missed being knocked down by the Northwestern defender, but Danny Davis caught it and rumbled his way all the way to the Cats 6. Two plays later, Hornibrook went back to Davis, who went up high to catch a play action pass in the back of the end zone to give Bucky the two-score advantage.

With Wisconsin leading 24-10, everybody thought the game was over after Thorson threw a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Badgers safety Natrell Jamerson who returned 36 yards for a touchdown to give Bucky a 31-10 lead. The advantage appeared safe. Northwestern had not score a point all half long, after all.

But as the great Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend.”

Northwestern converted a 3^rd-and-16 and 4^th-and-7 to move down the field and score a touchdown on a Thorson 2-yard toss to Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman to cut the deficit to 31-17 with less than five minutes to play.

It became much more interesting after the Badgers were pinned at their own 6 to begin the next possession and went 3-and-out. As a result, Northwestern had to only travel 55 yards on its next drive to cut the deficit to one score. On 3^rd-and-10 from the Badgers 41, Thorson connected with Riley Lees on a slant, who broke a few tackles and escaped down to the Badgers 17. Two plays later, Thorson found a tightly covered Garrett Dickerson from five yards out to cut it to seven.

Now it felt like a Wisconsin/Northwestern game.

If only the Cats had recovered the onside kick…

But they didn’t and Wisconsin ran the clock down to 1:16 before punting. Anthony Lotti booted a beautiful 33-yard punt down to the 2, which led to Dixon’s sack for the safety.

On the play, Thorson rolled out to the right and could not find a receiver. When Thorson started rolling out, Dixon bolted up from his safety spot to bring down the Northwestern quarterback in the end zone for two points to seal the victory.

While Wisconsin got the last laugh in the game, the game did not start well for the home team. On the very first play of the game, Hornibrook rolled left and found Jazz Peavy for six yards, but the ball was knocked out of his hands and the Wildcats recovered at the Badgers 24. The defense for Wisconsin stood tall, though, forcing the Kitties into a field goal attempt, which was made. On 3^rd-and-1 from the 15, Justin Jackson got the carry and was dropped behind the line of scrimmage by Leon Jacobs.

For as much success as Jackson had in his first two years for Northwestern against Wisconsin, he was shut down in his final two seasons. In his first two years against the Bucky defense, Jackson ran 68 times for 301 yards and a touchdown for 4.4 yards per carry. In his final two seasons, he carried the ball 22 times for 67 yards for 3.1 yards per carry, and 28 of those came on one carry toward the end of the half in 2016. Other than that, it was 21 totes for just 39 yards.

Getting late in the first, the Badgers took the lead on a 47-yard drive, as Taylor scored his first touchdown of the afternoon. JT23 took the handoff and found a sliver of an opening and bear crawled, keeping his balance, and diving in from seven yards out.

The teams traded interceptions before Northwestern drove 44 yards in 12 plays to re-capture the lead before halftime. On 1^st-and-Goal from inside the 1, Thorson ran a play action and rolled out and found a wide open Cameron Green for the score.

That lead obviously vanished in the second half when Wisconsin’s offense came alive and Wisconsin went to 4-0 on the season.

The Badgers began the season 12-0, going undefeated through the regular season. Following a loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game, Wisconsin went on the road to win the Orange Bowl against Miami.