28. Wisconsin 31, Minnesota 21 (2015)

The Badgers were having to rebound from a heartbreaking bad call the week before on Senior Day against Northwestern. Their opponent was their biggest rivals, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Minnesota was primed to win its first game against Wisconsin in 2015. That even looked more true as the Gophers returned an interception for a touchdown to begin the game. However, the Badgers forced five turnovers and rushed for 257 yards as Bucky kept the axe.

Wisconsin began the game well, forcing the Minnesota offense to a 3-and-out. However, the Badgers offense didn’t start off as well. On the first offensive play of the game for Wisconsin, quarterback Joel Stave tried to throw a wide receiver screen, but Minnesota cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun jumped the route and caught the easy interception to give Minnesota the lead. In an odd stat, it was the fourth consecutive meeting in Minneapolis in which the Gophers scored a non-offensive touchdown.

But the Badgers offense put it in high gear the remainder of the half, scoring four touchdowns in the final five drives of the half. Wisconsin had 56 yards rushing in the 67-yard drive to tie the game, finishing with a touchdown run by fullback Alec Ingold.

They had 60 more yards rushing on the next touchdown drive, this one of 73 yards. Taiwan Deal  plowed in from a yard out to give them the lead.

Minnesota tied the score on its next possession, but fumbled it away on the following drive when quarterback Mitch Leidner ran the ball and was stopped and the ball was knocked loose. Joe Schobert fell on the ball for the Badgers.

The fumble set up another rushing drive. Dare Ogunbowale carried the ball three times for 21 yards before Deal finished off the possession by blasting up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown run to give the Badgers the lead they would not relinquish.

Minnesota fumbled once again on its next drive. On 3^rd-and-10 from their own 30, Leidner threw a middle screen to wide receiver KJ Maye. It was beautifully designed, but Michael Caputo tackled Maye at the Gophers 45 and knocked the ball loose. Darius Hillary recovered for the Badgers and it set up another score. Again, six plays and six runs. Ogunbowale ran four times for 41 yards, including 18 yards for a touchdown down the sideline.

The Badgers had the 28-14 lead at halftime.

It ballooned to 31-14 in the third quarter, but it should have been more. Leidner was intercepted by Schobert, who returned it for the score, but it was called back because of a targeting foul on Jack Cichy.

Minnesota scored on a Drew Wolitarsky touchdown reception, but that was the final scoring. The Gophers had chances down the stretch, but Leidner threw an incompletion on fourth down and a Tanner McEvoy interception ended those threats and Bucky brought back home Paul Bunyan’s Axe.

The put the replay review loss against Northwestern even more in the rear view mirror with a 23-21 win over USC in the Holiday Bowl.

29. Wisconsin 49, South Florida 0 (2019)

In 2018, the Wisconsin Badgers were a bit of a disappointment. They were preseason top five, but limped through the season, including losing to Minnesota for the first time since 2003 and first time in Madison since 1994. However, the Badgers ended the season on a high note with a 35-3 destruction of Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl. That helped springboard into the 2019 season, which many thought would be a tough game at South Florida.

Well, the Badgers dispatched the Bulls like they were a Division III team. Jonathan Taylor began the season with a 37-yard touchdown run and the Badgers did not let them up. Taylor not only showed his rushing ability once again, but also proved he could catch the ball a bit too. He touched the ball 18 times and gained 183 yards and scored four times. Wisconsin held USF to just 157 yards of offense and it was the first of four shutouts pitched by the Badgers defense in the first six games.

Taylor did not take long to make his presence felt in the year 2019. JT was given the ball the first four plays of the season, gaining 10 yards. His fifth carry went a bit further. After quarterback Jack Coan completed two consecutive passes, including a 3^rd-and-7 completion to Quintez Cephus, Taylor made his mark. The Heisman candidate found a crease through the left side of the line and blasted through it and strolled down the left sideline for a 37-yard touchdown to give Bucky a 7-0 lead.

It remained that way through the end of the first quarter, as the Badgers and Bulls punted on each of their next two drives.

But then the Badgers defense decided to make its mark in the 2019 season.

Early in the second quarter with the score still 7-0 and the Bulls facing a 2^nd-and-9 from their own 22, Wisconsin’s outstanding EDGE rusher Zack Baun blew past the USF left tackle and drilled Bulls quarterback Blake Barnett as he was getting ready to throw. The ball popped up in the air and landed in the arms of defensive lineman Matt Henningsen, who rumbled in for the touchdown.

Taylor took over down the stretch of the second quarter, as the Badgers led 28-0 at half. He scored his second touchdown on a screen pass with under 11 minutes to play in the half. JT received the screen pass from Coan and escaped tackle attempts at the line of scrimmage and went virtually untouched the rest of the way for the score.

With all his great plays in the game, his best one may have been his play at the end of the first half. With no timeouts and the ball on the USF 12 with nine seconds left, Coan dumped it off to Taylor at the 5. He was wrapped up at the 3, but managed to fall backward and stretch it over the goal line for the score, his third of the first half and to make it 28-0 at the half.

JT’s dominance continued into the third, as he took his second carry of the half 38 yards for the score. On the play, he nearly slipped at the line of scrimmage, but regained his balance and made a sick cut to help him escape the first two levels of the USF defense and he outraced them for his fourth touchdown of the evening.

The Badgers finished off the scoring with touchdowns by backup running backs Nakia Watson and Bradrick Shaw. The latter suffered a torn ACL in the regular season finale at Minnesota in 2017 and missed the entire 2018 season, so that felt good to score in his first game back. Backup quarterback Chase Wolf helped him reach paydirt, throwing a block on Shaw’s 15-yard touchdown run. On the play, Shaw found no room to the left, but reversed field and found green grass, blasting in for the score.

It was the start of a wonderful season for the Badgers, as they earned a spot in the Rose Bowl at the end of the season.

30. Wisconsin 41, Nebraska 24 (2018)

Wisconsin came in at 3-1 and had rebounded from the embarrassing home loss to BYU with a huge road win at night against Iowa, a place it is difficult to win, especially at night. The Badgers returned home to play an 0-4 Nebraska team led by first-year head coach Scott Frost. The defense struggled for the Huskers in the season, having allowed at least 33 points in three of their first four games, including a 56-10 loss at Michigan two weeks prior.

While the Badgers proved to have a bit of a down year in 2018, some things didn’t change—like their ability to beat Nebraska by multiple scores. Once again, the Wisconsin rushing attack ran roughshod over the “Blackshirts,” as the Badgers ran for 370 yards, led by Jonathan Taylor’s 221. Both Taiwan Deal and Garret Groshek rushed for more than 70 yards as well. Wisconsin scored two late touchdowns in the first half to put Bucky in front 20-3 at recess and the Badgers coasted from there, as the game never was in single digits again.

The Badgers had productive drives on four of their five first half possessions, but after their first three drives, they led just 6-0 despite outgaining the Cornhuskers 124-16. Nebraska came back with a field goal, but two straight touchdowns put the Badgers in front by 17 going into the locker room.

The first drive began with a pass from quarterback Alex Hornibrook to wide receiver A.J. Taylor for 26 yards to move it into Nebraska territory. Five plays later, Jonathan Taylor scored on a 3-yard run to put Bucky up by two scores.

It became three scores when Hornibrook threw a touchdown to freshman tight end Jake Ferguson with less than a minute left until halftime. A Groshek 24-yard run and a pass interference aided the drive. Following a sack on 1^st-and-Goal, Hornibrook proved it was no problem by throwing a touchdown over the middle to the big tight end.

Wisconsin didn’t slow down in the second half, scoring touchdowns on three of its first four drives. Nebraska actually drew first blood in the second half on a 75-yard strike from freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez to JD Spielman, the son of Minnesota Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman. Martinez had all day to throw and threw a strike over the middle to Spielman at the Huskers 45. He beat a diving Scott Nelson and went in for the long uncontested touchdown.

But the Blackshirts never had an answer. The Badgers responded by driving 71 yards in seven plays. The possession started with JT23 carrying Nebraska defenders for 12 yards and it ended with him going through a gaping hole and blasting untouched into the end zone from 21 yards out.

Nebraska was driving on its next possession, but Martinez was too careless with the ball and fumbled, and Wisconsin recovered. The Badgers did not waste the opportunity to make Nebraska pay. Six plays and 59 yards later, Deal ran in from 20 yards out, breaking a few tackles along the way.

With the Badgers leading 34-17 in the fourth quarter, the Doak Walker Award winner essentially ended the game. On 1st-and-10 from their own 12 with 13 minutes left, Taylor received the handoff and blasted up the middle. He broke a tackle at the second level and stiff armed a defensive back at the third level and broke loose. He out-ran everybody for an 88-yard touchdown, the longest run of his storied career.

Nebraska scored once more, but the Badgers had the game wrapped up.

The happiness was short-lived, though, as Bucky was crushed in Ann Arbor the next week. It was a disappointing season, but this win was still super sweet.

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.

32. Wisconsin 61, Central Michigan 0 (2019)

In 2018, wide receiver Quintez Cephus missed the season due to an investigation regarding sexual assault. He was found not guilty and was allowed back with the Wisconsin Badgers for the 2019 season. The Badgers were playing their first home game of the season after destroying South Florida 49-0 the previous week. In his return back, Cephus caught three passes for 39 yards in the blowout win. He made his presence felt in a week two demolition of Central Michigan.

Cephus caught six passes for 130 yards and two late second quarter scores, as the Badgers led 44-0 at halftime on their way to an annihilation situation, destroying Central Michigan 61-0, their biggest blowout since the 83-20 win over Indiana in 2010. Wisconsin held the Chippewas to just 58 yards of total offense. The defense posted two shutouts to begin the season and had allowed just 215 total yards and 41 yards rushing in the two games, the team's lowest two-game totals since at least 1998.

To show you how dominant the Badgers were, the Badgers had 12 possessions….and punted just once. With the Badgers in front 30-0, Coan and Cephus provided the knockout punch. With less than five minutes to go in the first half, Coan launched a pass to an open Cephus down the left sideline for the 26-yard score. Following a 3-and-out, the pair connected again. On a five play drive spanning 80 yards, Coan found a pass down the right sideline for the big play wide receiver for the 44-yard score to finish off the scoring in a high-scoring opening 30 minutes for the Badgers.

It did not take long for Wisconsin to put a dent in the scoreboard. Running back Jonathan Taylor and wide receiver Danny Davis combined for all 63 yards on the drive with Taylor totaling 40 of those, including reaching paydirt from four yards away.

It went to 9-0 after Central Michigan punter Brady Buell dropped the snap on a punt and he was tackled, fumbling it out of the back of the end zone. On the ensuing possession, Taylor scored his second touchdown of the game with a 2-yard run to make it 16-0 at the end of the first.

Two possessions later, Bucky took advantage of a Jack Sanborn interception by scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Coan to Taylor. Nakia Watson scored a touchdown on the possession after that to make it 30-0. That set up the final two touchdowns of the half by Cephus.

The second half didn’t fare any better for the Chippewas, as the Badgers scored 17 points on their first three drives to make it 61-0. Taylor scored one more for good measure and backup running back Garret Groshek found the end zone to end the scoring.

For the game, the Badgers outgained CMU by a whopping 599-58. Coan’s 363 yards passing ranks fifth in school history. His 276 passing yards in the first half of the game is the most in program history.

The Badgers went on to shut out four of their first six opponents as the unit led them to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 2012 season.

33. Wisconsin 21, Northwestern 7 (2016)

In an unbelievable stat, the Wisconsin Badgers had not won in Evanston since 1999, a streak that spanned four games. Not only did Wisconsin lose four in a row, they were often in gut-punching fashion, losing them by a grand total of 20 points. The Badgers were coming off two huge wins at Iowa and the previous week in overtime against No. 7 Nebraska, so it would be understandable if Wisconsin had a bit of a letdown. Northwestern came in at 4-4, but went toe-to-toe with Ohio State in Columbus and had won three in a row before that, including winning in Iowa City.

The Badgers shut out the Wildcats in the second half and had a huge sack and fumble recovery, leading to Wisconsin earn its first victory at Ryan Field in five tries. That led to a Corey Clement touchdown run, which ended up putting the game away.

In the second half, the Badgers were clinging to a 13-7 lead and Northwestern was driving into the red zone. An offensive holding penalty on Northwestern’s Eric Olson changed the entire complexion of the game. An incomplete pass and Justin Jackson run for a loss of a yard made it a 3^rd-and-21 from the Wisconsin 30.

The Wildcats were in field goal range, albeit a long one, but they decided to pass on 3^rd-and-forever and Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson was grabbed from behind by edge rusher Garret Dooley and crushed as he was ready to throw by defensive lineman Conor Sheehy. The ball came loose and was picked up by safety D’Cota Dixon, who returned it the Northwestern 45.

That set up a 9-play, 45-yard drive to put the game on ice for the Badgers. Corey Clement finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Fullback Alec Ingold plowed in for the two-point conversion to put Wisconsin in front by 14.

Northwestern did not threaten again and Wisconsin captured its seventh win of the season.

In 2015, Wisconsin “lost” to Northwestern due to a terrible overturn of a touchdown. Wisconsin had the ball at the Cats 1 with little time left, down 13-7. Quarterback Joel Stave threw a pass to the right side of the end zone for wide receiver Jazz Peavy. The Badgers receiver caught it five yards from the out of bounds marker. He took a few steps and went to the ground with possession near the out of bounds line. Only when he got up and the ball hit his knee and bounced away did he lose possession. The replay people reviewed it and called it incomplete. The Badgers fans were not too happy and promptly threw snowballs at the officials as they left the field.

It only made sense that Peavy would have a big game. With Wisconsin leading 3-0 midway through the second quarter, Peavy received a handoff on the jet sweep at the 46 of the Cats and he found all day to run. When he finally found Wildcats defenders at the Northwestern 30, he veered to his right and ran across the field and out-raced everyone to the end zone to give Bucky a 10-point lead.

Northwestern responded with an 8-play 87-yard drive to answer Wisconsin’s score. The Big Ten’s leading receiver, Austin Carr, scored from 13 yards out on a pass from Thorson. Carr got his yards, catching 12 passes for 132 yards and the score, but the Badgers shut down other weapons for the Windy City Kitties.

On the drive, Jackson had a 28-yard run to convert a third down for the Wildcats. However, other than that run, he was shut down. Besides that scamper, the vaunted Wisconsin defense held one of the Big Ten’s career rushing leaders to just 12 carries for 14 yards.

The defenses ruled the day in the second half, as Wisconsin’s field goal midway through the third quarter were the only points until midway through the fourth.

Wisconsin continued its winning streak, securing victories in the next three to grow its winning streak to six games to finish the regular season. Following a disappointing loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game, Bucky rebounded with a victory in the Cotton Bowl over the Fighting P.J. Flecks.

34. Wisconsin 37, Nebraska 21 (2019)

The Wisconsin Badgers needed to win out in order to earn a spot in the Big Ten West and have Minnesota trip up twice, including against Wisconsin to end the season. Bucky was coming off a big win at home against the Iowa Hawkeyes the week before. Despite being hyped up to begin the season, the Cornhuskers limped in at 4-5 overall and 2-4 in league action and having lost three in a row.

While Nebraska showed fight and led 14-10 midway through the second quarter, the Badgers were too much. Jonathan Taylor, like Badger running backs before him, feasted on the Nebraska defense, rushing for 204 yards and a pair of touchdowns, leading Wisconsin to a 16-point win.

As I mentioned above, Nebraska led 14-10 midway through the second quarter. But quarterback Jack Coan and wide receiver A.J. Taylor changed things. With Wisconsin facing a 3^rd-and-5 from its own 45, Coan threw a strike to Taylor on the slant. When he ran inside the 40 of Nebraska, two Huskers defenders tried to tackle him with their shoulders. It didn’t go so well for them. Taylor stayed on his feet and ran the rest of the way for the 55-yard touchdown to give Wisconsin the lead it would not relinquish.

That was the first of three consecutive scores by the Badgers. Jonathan Taylor cashed in an interception from Jack Sanborn into another touchdown to give the Badgers a 24-14 lead. They kicked a field goal to end the half at 27-14.

Nebraska started off the game well. The Huskers drove to the Badgers 34 on their first drive, but back-to-back sacks pushed them out of field goal range. They drove deep into Wisconsin territory on each of their first four possessions, scoring two touchdowns. After Nebraska’s first touchdown, freshman return man Aron Cruickshank returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for the tying touchdown.

The Huskers took a 14-10 lead on a 2-yard run by quarterback Adrian Martinez. Dedrick Mills set up the touchdown with a 16-yard run to the doorstep. Nebraska gashed Wisconsin on the ground, as those two combined to rush the ball 33 times for 177 yards. And that counts lost yardage on sacks.

But all of that changed with the A.J. Taylor touchdown reception.

The offensive onslaught really settled down in the second half, but Nebraska didn’t back down. The Huskers had four drives in the second half and did not punt on any of them, and only punted twice in the entire contest.

Unfortunately for the home team, though, the Huskers only scored seven points, as they missed a field goal and were stopped on downs twice in addition to the touchdown.

In the third quarter, Jonathan Taylor ran 11 yards in for the score to give Wisconsin a 20-point lead before Martinez threw a 23-yard touchdown to J.D. Spielman.

Nebraska really had a chance to put a dent into the scoreboard, trailing 34-21. After a Wisconsin punt pinned the Huskers back at their own 4, they drove all the way to the Bucky 15, but a fourth down stop by the Badgers ended the drive.

Wisconsin proceeded to travel 72 yards in 10 plays, ending with a Collin Larsh 30-yard field goal.

But it was still a one-score game.

On a 74-yard drive, the Huskers converted two third downs, including a 3^rd-and-15 to move into Wisconsin territory. The other conversion was a 36-yard pass from Martinez to Kanawai Noa on 3^rd-and-9 to move it to the Badgers 5. However, two runs gained one yard and an incompletion set them up for 4^th-and-Goal at the 4.

Reggie Person proceeded to make one of the most memorable plays of the year. Nebraska ran a wide receiver screen to Wyatt Mazour, who looked like he would stroll into the end zone. But at the 1, Pearson lined up Mazour and made a sure tackle, hammering the Nebraska ball carrier just short of the goal line.

Wisconsin ran out the remaining two minutes to seal the 16-point victory.

The Badgers did indeed win out in the regular season, winning over Purdue and dominating Minnesota in the Gophers biggest game in 50+ years to capture the Big Ten West.