Wisconsin Badgers Defeat Auburn in Overtime of Outback Bowl 34-31; Melvin Gordon Runs for 251 Yards
By Jerry Levi
Forget all that talk about Wisconsin having a down year. Keep that other talk as well that the Badgers wouldn’t come out for Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, who would coach the team in the Outback Bowl after Gary Andersen surprisingly bolted to Oregon State. Also put deep into that pocket that Wisconsin would be blown out by an underachieving SEC team in the Auburn Tigers just like they were buried in the Big Ten Championship Game against Ohio State 59-0. Auburn was favored by 7 going into the game. What the Badgers don’t want you to forget is that they’ve got a Melvin Gordon. A Melvin Gordon that the Wisconsin Badgers attached their wagons to in the Outback Bowl to the tune of 251 yards and an overtime win over Auburn 34-31.
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Now to be fair to the rest of the Wisconsin team, the Badgers did overcome 3 turnovers. They also relied on Quarterback Joel Stave to get Wisconsin into field goal range in the last minute to set up the game tying field goal by kicker Rafael Gaglianone to send it into overtime. Gaglianone also hit the eventual winning field goal to make the score 34-31. What was left? Auburn got the ball in their portion of the overtime and was setup to tie the game on kicker Daniel Carlson’s 45 yard field goal attempt, but it hit the upright on the right side, and the game was over, Badgers win.
So what was Melvin Gordon’s final tally in 2014? Just 2587 yards on the year, coming within 42 yards of Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders all-time single season rushing record made back in 1988. His tally on the day was the aforementioned 251 yards to go along with 3 touchdowns and a 7.4 yards per carry average.
So don’t forget about the Badgers when you remember the 2014 Outback Bowl. And don’t forget about Melvin Gordon when he’s playing on Sundays, the Auburn Tigers sure won’t…
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