Wisconsin vs. Northwestern Recap
Photo by Jonathon Daniel/Getty Images
Saturday 11/5/16 -- #8 Wisconsin 21 Northwestern 7
New week, same story for this battle-tested Badgers team. Another dominant defensive performance lead Wisconsin's 21-7 win over Northwestern. A win which gave the Badgers their first win in Evanston since 1999. The offense, again, struggled to find consistency, however, they didn't put their defense in any short yardage situations, and the punting game looked really good pinning Northwestern inside their own 20 on six of seven punts.
Recap by quarter:
First Quarter: Neither offense looked to be in sync through the first quarter. The Badgers put together a very nice drive that once again stalled out in the redzone. Wisconsin marched down the field beautifully, but unfortunately went three-and-out as soon as they stepped inside Northwestern's 20 yard line. The drive ended with a missed field goal by Andrew Endicott. The plays of the quarter would be the two punts by Anthony Lotti. He was great all game, and his two punts in the first quarter started the Wildcats on their own 14 and 18.
Second Quarter: Wisconsin finally put together a drive worth noting in the second quarter where they marched 68 yards in five plays that ended with a phenomenal 46 yard run by Jazz Peavy where he weaved through the Wildcat defense on his way to a touchdown. This was a new wrinkle to the Badgers notorious end-around plays. Instead of sending Peavy in motion, giving the safety time to crash down, they lined him up closer to the ball and brought him around after the ball was snapped, faking the handoff first. The offense looked much more consistent in the second quarter and put up 10 points. Northwestern would put together a very good drive of their own, and would march down the field for a touchdown late in the quarter. The play, or rather series of plays of the quarter, would be the questionable calls for the Badgers to end the quarter. Wisconsin got the ball back on their own 39 with 30 seconds left and three timeout. However, after neglecting to call timeout until 14 seconds had gone by, the Badgers would squander their chances of putting more points on the board before the half would end with 10-7 Wisconsin lead.
Third Quarter: The Badgers defense came out on fire and forced Northwestern to punt on their first three drives, allowing only 22 yards in that span. Wisconsin would add a field goal during that stretch giving them a 13-7 lead in the third. The play of the quarter would be Wisconsin's call on 4th and 8 to attempt to kick the 51 yard field goal with the back up kicker who, while performing very well as a back up, has started to struggle in his role. The punting game was so good, and the defensive play was even better, I'm a little surprised that the Badgers didn't try to pin the Wildcats deep. Though the kick looked really good, and just barely missed wide right, it did set Northwestern up with pretty solid field position, which they hadn't had all game. The Badgers would lead at the end of the third 13-7, but the Wildcats were driving down the field as the quarter ended.
Fourth Quarter: Stop me if you've heard this before: with Northwestern driving down to the Badgers 30 yard line (originally the 19, but they were called for a holding, and lost a yard on a run play), the Wisconsin defense needed to make a play. Garret Dooley and Connor Sheehy teamed up for a massive sack on Clayton Thorson causing a fumble that would be recovered by D'Cota Dixon and returned to the Northwestern 45 yard line. Wisconsin would then cap off a 9 play 45 yard drive with a two yard Corey Clement run. The Badgers would then convert the two point conversion on an Alec Ingold run. The Wildcats final three drives would end on downs, a punt, and downs again. Wisconsin would have nothing left to do except run the clock out to seal their victory.
More of the same for this Badgers team that continues to be dominant on defense. Northwestern put together two good drives on Saturday, with only one resulting in points, the other in a fumble. This defense has allowed more than 20 points ONCE this year, which is pretty amazing considering the schedule that they've had. The offense on the other hand looked to be a little more in sync this week. The quarterback play, and lack of creativity in the play calling continues to bring this offense down. They don't use enough play-action, and continue to run on nearly every first down. There's no shame in wanting to establish the run, but when you continue to put the offense in 2nd and long situations, the play calling becomes even more predictable. This offense can be good, and can move the ball consistently, but the consistency isn't there enough, yet.
Finally through the gauntlet, the Badgers control their own destiny. If they win out, they win the B1G West and will play in the conference championship game; lose once, and that opportunity becomes a little more unpredictable. They will play in Madison against a (3-6) Illinois team that is still rebuilding under first-year coach Lovie Smith. They did beat Michigan State this week, but unfortunately, that is not a big accomplishment this year. The opening line has the Badgers favored by 27 points. Look for the Wisconsin offense to try and find some consistency through these final three weeks as regular season play comes to a close.
Kick of is at 2:30 pm on ESPN 2
