Media and even the team’s own fans pointed to a schedule that featured five teams ranked in the top 17 of the Associated Press poll over its first two months – a grind far too hard for the unranked Badgers to navigate. Injuries and an off-field issue maligned a 2015 season in which he was supposed to take over as the latest star running back at Wisconsin, in the lineage of Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball and Ron Dayne.
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The Tigers’ loss to the Badgers also ends their 52-game win streak for non-conference regular season wins since that 2002 loss to Virginia Tech.
111 Years since Wisconsin previously played in its home state and the game wasn’t in Madison. It has that feel. But one cannot help to think that this will catapult them heading into the rest of the non conference schedule and into their brutal Big Ten campaign.
Saturday, though, was all about LSU.
If Saturday’s game is anything like the one in Houston I’m certain there will be plenty of fireworks.
And what a game it was.
These two teams met in the first week of the 2014 season in Houston in what turned out to be a comeback victory for the Tigers.
Those two field goals gave Wisconsin a 6-0 lead going into halftime, and a five-yard score from running back Corey Clement extended that lead to 13-0 early in the third quarter.
It only took one minute, seven seconds for that lead to evaporate.
Just two plays later Brandon Harris connected with Travin Duval for a ten yard touchdown, and the Badgers found themselves trailing 14-13.
“In the get-go I said we were going to be between double or quintuple of a normal Packer game and we hit right in between a normal Packer game and maybe 2 and a half three times normal for beer”, says Jerry Watson, who owns Stadium View.
But I should shut up with technicalities: Wisconsin won at Lambeau Field and then their players jumped into the stands.
Moments later White picked up a Badgers fumble at the Wisconsin 41. “And, again, I think they have really good concepts and I think they’re a very strong defense”.
Rafael Gaglianone kicked a 47-yard field goal with 3:47 left, and Wisconsin staved off LSU’s desperate last-ditch drive for a 16-14 win.
LSU quickly drove to the Wisconsin 30-yard line, but Harris was intercepted by Badgers safety D’Cota Dixon with 57 seconds remaining after narrowly escaping heavy pressure from Vince Biegel.
Clapp sprained his ankle during Wednesday’s practice, and the boot is a precautionary measure stabilize the right ankle and prevent swelling, a source said. That gave them a 16-14 lead over LSU.
While head coach Paul Chryst lauded his team for keeping focused on the game at hand instead of everything surrounding the game – including Aranda being on the opposite sideline – multiple players admitted they were especially proud of what they were able to accomplish considering the circumstances.
The Badgers could start the season with four sophomores and a new left tackle up front on Saturday. Three turnovers and a 20-percent conversion rate on third downs aren’t typically stats you see for a winning team. “So we were totally prepared, we weren’t surprised with what they were doing, we just executed”.
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“At times, we executed, but at the same time you know there were spots here and there where we weren’t on the same page”, said Pocic, a three-year starter.
