The No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers (1-0 Big Ten, 4-0 overall) continued to roll on Saturday, upsetting the No. 8 Michigan State Spartans (0-1, 2-1) in East Lansing, Mich., 30-6. Now running back Corey Clement and the Wisconsin Badgers look to make a statement on the road in today’s game. The incoming class will be recognized during Saturday’s game.
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It just might be time to start taking No. 11 Wisconsin (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) seriously as a Big Ten threat. Penn State Quarterback Trace McSorley, his top four receivers (Chris Godwin, DeAndre Thompkins, Mike Gesicki, and DaeSean Hamilton) and running back Saquon Barkley will have to play solid and consistent if they want to have any chance at upsetting MI in Ann Arbor. Michigan State’s Tyler O’Connor has completed 32 of 44 passes for 431 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in 2 games.
“It’s a good thing to let your opponent know that a lot of things are options”, Harbaugh said. “We just need to take care of it when we get it”. Wisconsin’s defense is elite – you have to be to hold Michigan State to 75 rushing yards in a contest – and its offense has a clear identity with a quarterback – redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook – that can execute the gameplan with the surprising amount of big-play talent around him. Spartans win this one by a TD or more. But Wisconsin has now gone on the road and pounded the defending Big Ten champions.
Wisconsin led, 13-6, at halftime, and the Michigan State defense came out looking strong on the third quarter’s first series. The betting markets, as they do, dramatically overreacted to that sluggish showing, installing the Spartans as 7.5 point underdogs at Notre Dame last week. The OddsShark computer projects MI to win 34.8-21.2 over Penn State. After dumping No. 5 LSU in the opener, Wisconsin now has two wins over AP top 10 teams in the same season for the first time since 1964. They’re unlikely to fall all the way out after this lopsided loss, but another performance like this would put that streak in some jeopardy. It’s all right there.
“You’re not going to win a football game like that”, Dantonio said. On third downs, Hornibrook completed 9-of-12 passes for 136 yards with six first downs. Ole Miss is in the Top 15 in passing yards (976) while Georgia running back Nick Chubb and receiver Isaiah McKenzie are over 300 yards in their respective positions. Andrew Endicott missed an extra point but made his first career field goal, from 41 yards in the third.
This was just the beginning for the Badgers, as this was the start of a rugged five-game stretch of games.
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Clement leads the Badgers in rushing with 197 yards and three touchdowns, and his ability to stay on the field Saturday will be crucial to their success. The Badgers get plenty of credit for it, of course, but both LSU and Michigan State had sloppy efforts that are unlikely to be repeated by Michigan and Ohio State the next two games.
