Wisconsin Badgers vs Michigan Wolverines Review

The Wisconsin Badgers continued their winning ways this weekend as they defeated the fast sinking Michigan Wolverines 45-24 to give them an 8-2 record on the year. Michigan, who fell to 4-7 on the year with a 1-6 conference record, have really fallen off as of late and have not given much to be excited about with the bringing in of the new head coach Rich Rodriguez. This record puts Michigan tenth out of eleven teams in the Big Ten and, with Ohio State as the last team on the schedule, is looking square in the face of not just a losing season, but an incredibly embarrassing record. On the other hand, Wisconsin is having a great season with their two losses coming to teams that are currently ranked higher than them. Ohio State was able to clinch a berth to the Rose Bowl with their recent win over Iowa which also won them the Big Ten title this year. Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien came back to life after his shaky starts the last two games as he threw four touchdown passes with only one interception to go along with his one rushing touchdown to make Tolzien responsible to 5 of the 6 touchdowns scored by the Badgers. John Clay was able to slam in the other touchdown of the game and highly contributed to the routing of the Wolverines.

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The first quarter gave a hint that this might be a shootout offensive game. Scott Tolzien threw his first touchdown pass of the day as he connected with tight end Garrett Graham for a 22 yard touchdown to give the Badgers a 7-0 lead. Michigan countered with a touchdown pass of their own as Michigan star quarterback Tate Forcier connected with Vincent Smith for a 21 yard touchdown to tie the game at seven. That score would remain for the rest of the first quarter and it was on to the second quarter with no advantage to either side.

The second quarter was more action packed than the first with tons of scoring. Michigan led off with their kicker Jason Olesnvage connecting on a 37 yard field goal after his previous attempt was blocked by defensive tackle JJ Watt. That possession would immediately lead to Tolzien’s only interception of the game. Therefore Michigan took the lead 10-7. Wisconsin responded with a touchdown pass from quarterback Scott Tolzien to recently emerging wide receiver Nick Toon for 8 yards to give the Badgers the lead back 14-10. After Michigan gave the ball back to Wisconsin, they were finally able to get pressure on Tolzien as he was sacked and fumbled the ball which was recovered by Ryan Van Bergen of Michigan and taken back 14 yards the other way for a defensive touchdown to give Michigan the lead back 17-14. Wisconsin would immediately respond as their next drive ended with a one yard touchdown run by perennial all Big Ten tailback John Clay to give the Badgers the lead 21-17. This would be the last time Michigan held the lead as the second half was all Badgers.

The third quarterback yielded a 15 yard touchdown connection from Scott Tolzien to Nick Toon for their second touchdown connection of the game. This touchdown extended the Badgers lead to 28-17. Tate Forcier would strike again for Michigan to try and keep their hopes alive as he connected with Roy Roundtree for a 10 yard strike to pull Michigan back to within 4 points, 28-24. But that was as close as this game was going to get. Capping off the third quarter, Tolzien connected on his fourth touchdown pass of the game as he found tight end Lance Kendricks for a 7 yard touchdown which really turned out to be the dagger in the game as the Badgers led 35-24. The students were jumping at Camp Randall stadium as the Badgers went into the fourth quarter carrying that eleven point lead.

In the fourth quarter, Scott Tolzien would add another touchdown with his legs from one yard out and kicker Philip Welch connected on a 28 yard field goal to give the Badgers the eventual final score of 45-24.

This game was 100 percent Wisconsin Badger football as they controlled the time of possession battle, holding onto the ball for 11+ minutes more than Michigan and executing their dynamic run game as they piled up 229 yards on the ground to Michigan’s 71. John Clay lead the way in rushing as he finished his day with 151 yards and 1 TD, with his counterpart Montee Ball coming in right behind him with 62 yards rushing by himself. Scott Tolzien passed for 240 yards in the game with 4 passing touchdowns and 1 rushing down to reestablish himself as one of the better quarterbacks in the Big Ten. The Badgers have two games left on their schedule as they look forward to playing the Northwestern Wildcats next weekend at Northwestern.

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