8:15; NU 17, Wisconsin 14
Three plays into the second quarter, John Clay put Wisconsin on the board. The Wisconsin Winnebago pounded the ball off right tackle for a 2-yard touchdown rush. The Badgers moved inside the Wildcats’ 5-yard line on an 18-yard bullet from Scott Tolzien to Garrett Graham on a post pattern. All told, the drive went 57 yards in seven plays and took just more than three minutes of clock time.
After Stephen Simmons broke several tackles and returned the ball to the 35-yard line, Scott Concannon coughed the ball up. Mike Kafka’s handoff was clean, but Concannon was stripped by Chris Borland. The ball was recovered by Jaevery McFadden at the NU 37-yard line. The Badgers rushed the ball four times, the first for seven yards and the next three for one yard to move the chains. The final rush had to be measured — but it went past the chains by the nose of the football. After lulling the Cats’ defense to sleep, Scott Tolzien connected with Garrett Graham again, this time for 27 yards over the middle for a touchdown. Jordan Mabin played the route perfectly, but Graham used his body to shield the ball. Brad Phillips was late to rotate over on the play, delivering a hit after Graham caught the pass, but it was too late. In less than three minutes from their previous score, the Badgers scored again. And in less than four minutes into the quarter, Wisconsin has taken a 14-10 lead.
But Stephen Simmons did the best he could to give NU good field position to take the lead on his return. The junior running back exploded for 64 yards down the right sideline, breaking two tackles before being pushes out at the 34-yard line by Aaron Henry. Then, Kafka completed 4-of-5 passing attempts, including a 15-yard drag to Drake Dunsmore, an eight-yard out to Zeke Markshausen and a four-yard dump off to Arby Fields. Then, on third-and-10, Kafka hit Andrew Brewer once again, this time on a corner-post route over the middle of the field for a 12-yard score. Brewer started on the outside of trips right, but cut outside quickly and then back inside over the middle. He dove for the scorching pass and got his hands under the ball. The play was reviewed and upheld. Sophomore running back Jacob Schmidt made a nice block on the play, stepping up to the line and delivering a blow to the blitzing linebacker. Kafka’s second touchdown pass to Brewer gave NU a three-point lead.
Blake Sorenson returned the ball to the 30-yard line, where the ball was ripped out by Jacob Schmidt and recovered by Demetrius Dugar on a tackle by Jared Carpenter. The play was reviewed and overturned this time, though. The Badgers will take over at their own 38-yard line after the timeout.
