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Wisconsin Football: Playoff hopes marred by BYU upset

By Darrelle Thompson

MADISON, WI - SEPTEMBER 15: BYU Cougars players react on the sideline prior to the start of the fourth quarter of the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. BYU won 24-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
MADISON, WI - SEPTEMBER 15: BYU Cougars players react on the sideline prior to the start of the fourth quarter of the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. BYU won 24-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Wisconsin Football was shocked at home by BYU in an upset that puts their College Football Playoff hopes on life support.

As the ball sailed left after leaving Rafeal Gaglianone’s foot, the BYU field goal unit began to celebrate a hard-fought victory. The coaching staff began hugging in jubilation, and Wisconsin fans stood shell-shocked at what just happened.

This game was arguably the biggest upset of the season so far. Wisconsin looked great heading into this Week 3 matchup. It was expected that the Badgers would run all over the Cougars front seven.

However, a strong performance by the BYU defense led them to a monumental upset. Is BYU a Top-25 team? They are certain to gain some votes in the polls and could sneak in when the new batch is released.

Alex Hornibrook‘s poor play made the Wisconsin offense one-dimensional, and he put up poor numbers in this game. He finished 18 for 28 with 190 yards passing and an interception. If Wisconsin is going to compete for the Big Ten championship he will have to improve his play and keep defenses honest about loading up the box to shut down Jonathan Taylor.

Taylor had an average game but didn’t make a major impact. The frontrunner for the Heisman ran the ball 26 times for 117 yards but did not find the end zone.

The big takeaway from this game was Wisconsin’s inability to stop the Cougars rushing attack. The star of the game was Cougars running back Squally Canada, who had 118  yards rushing on 11 carries and scored twice.

The secondary did a good job for most of the game, with the only major breakdown coming on a trick-play wide receiver pass in the second quarter. The Wisconsin defense will have some things to work on before entering Big Ten play.

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Where do the Badgers go from here? Their next game is a trip to face Iowa on the road, and if Wisconsin drops two in the row, the season could be viewed as a failure by most of the fan base. This was supposed to be the year they broke into the College Football Playoff. It’s still possible, but the task just got significantly more challenging.

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