Wisconsin Football: Badgers stick to ground game to avoid upset
1. Sometimes talent just has to be enough
Every team has bad their bad games. Even Nick Saban is willing to admit his teams don’t put out perfect performances on a weekly basis. For Wisconsin on Saturday, things weren’t working out like they’d hoped.
New Mexico marched down the field 87 yards on 17 plays to score the game’s first touchdown. Jonathan Taylor fumbled. Alex Hornibrook threw an interception. It was one thing after another for the Badgers who couldn’t seem to get out of their own way.
That’s when Wisconsin scrapped the gameplan and went back to what they knew would work, keying in on the biggest talent discrepancy between the two teams: the Wisconsin offensive line against the New Mexico front seven. Hornibrook attempted four passes in the first half and seven more passes in the second half. Meanwhile, Jonathan Taylor racked up 33 carries for 253 yards and three scores.
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It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t crisp, but the size and power of the Wisconsin offensive line were too much for New Mexico to handle. Sometimes when things aren’t clicking it’s best to find the simplest alternative and keep pushing the same button all day long.