I’m getting too old for games this stressful. But remember, easy is boring.
The No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers (8-3, 6-2) barely escaped with a 35-28 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-8, 1-7) on Senior Day at Camp Randall Stadium. The Freedom Trophy has still never been in Nebraska’s possession.
The Badgers have now won seven in a row and have an opportunity to punch their ticket to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game with a win over Minnesota next week in Minneapolis.
It’s not often that Wisconsin’s offense carried the team to a victory, but here we were today.
This is a weekly reminder that Braelon Allen is a monster and a special player. Allen ran for 228 yards on 22 carries (10.4 average) and three touchdowns. He has now rushed for at least 100 yards in seven consecutive games.
Nebraska has allowed an opposing player to rush for 200-plus yards eight times since joining the Big Ten in 2011. The last seven times were by Wisconsin running back’s, including Braelon Allen today.
Allen has now ran for more than 1,000 yards this season, despite not playing in two games this season and having a combined 12-carries against Eastern Michigan and Michigan. Allen becomes the fourth true freshman at UW (Ron Dayne, James White and Jonathan Taylor) to hit that mark in the last 30 years.
I’m convinced that Braelon Allen is the second coming of Jesus. The kid is a superstar!
This is my obligatory “he’s just 17” comment. Can he even get a Costco card yet?
I thought Graham Mertz played well, but didn’t get any help from receivers in the first half. Mertz continues to show improvement, now let’s just hope consistency follows.
Mertz completed 12-of-18 passes today for 145 yards and a touchdown.
It was an uncharacteristically bad day for Wisconsin’s defense today, but Jim Leonhard dialed up the right plays in the final minute when Nebraska was in the Red Zone attempting to tie the game (or win with a 2-point conversion).
I still think Jimmy should be running the Camp Randall steps despite the win.
Nebraska had at least nine (probably more) chunk plays through the air on a high amount of coverage busts from the UW defense.
Nebraska out-gained UW 452-397, ran 21 more plays, were better on third down, and won the time of possession battle by seven minutes.
Two takeaways, Stephan Bracey’s kickoff return for a TD and Braelon Allen made the difference.
Up Next:
The Badgers will play the Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-4, 5-3) in Minneapolis next Saturday, November 27th. Kickoff time will either be at 2:30 PM or 3:00 PM (Central Time). The television station it will be aired on hasn’t been announced yet.
I’m very excited about next week. It’s for Paul Bunyan’s Axe and the Big Ten West division title.
Nick Obot 