MADISON, Wis. - It wasn’t pretty, but the Wisconsin football team got back into the win column after defeating Rutgers, 31-10 in the team’s penultimate home game.
The Scarlet Knights stayed within striking distance for most of the game, but the Badgers finally broke through and gained a double-digit lead near the end of the third quarter.
Here’s what stood out from Wisconsin’s 31-10 win over Rutgers.
Game recap
After a three-and-out, the Badgers got the ball back on their own 14-yard line. Hopkins looked much more settled in his second possession, marching the Badgers down the field 86 yards and capping it with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Eugene Hilton Jr. on a laser.
Rutgers responded with an 11-play drive that used up nearly six minutes of clock and ended with a 45-yard field goal.
The Badgers pinned Rutgers deep in their own territory after their next possession stalled. Sebastian Cheeks got the game up with a big sack on second down, forcing Rutgers into a third-and-long. After a short punt, the Badgers got a nice start on their next possession, starting at the Scarlet Knights’ 47-yard line.
Wisconsin was fortunate to have the great field position, because the offense couldn’t generate much, but got close enough for Gavin Lahm to hit a 51-yard field goal that had just enough to get over the crossbar, putting the Badgers up 10-3, with just over eight minutes left in the first half.
Rutgers responded to Wisconsin’s scoring drive once again, but this time drove the length of the field, and backup QB AJ Surace connected with Dyzier Carter for a 30-yard touchdown to tie the game, 10-10.
The Badgers drove deep into Rutgers territory, and an overturned touchdown from Hopkins to Henry led to another Lahm field goal, putting the Badgers up 13-10 at the half.
Coming out of the half, the defense held Rutgers to just 28 yards and forced a punt. Hopkins led the Badgers down to the redzone in their next possession, but again, they failed to score a touchdown and settled for another field goal, putting the Badgers up 16-10.
When the Badgers got the ball again, Hopkins started slinging it. He hit Shamar Rigby in a tight window, getting them down to the Rutgers 11-yard line. On the very next play, he threw a dart to tight end Ryan Schwendeman for a touchdown, then completed a pass to Hilton Jr. for a two-point conversion, putting the Badgers up 24-10.
On Wisconsin’s next possession, Hopkins connected with tight end Jacob Harris, who ended up by himself along the sideline, and the big man did the rest. Harris took it the distance for a 67-yard touchdown, putting Wisconsin up 31-10.
After Rutgers turned it over on downs on their next possession, Hopkins lost the ball while trying to hand it off to Abu Sama, and the Scarlet Knights recovered it.
Ultimately, nothing came of it, and the Badgers came away with the 31-10 victory over Rutgers.
What stood out
• Ryan Hopkins made his first start and looked pretty good
As a true freshman starting your first game in November, you are bound to have some nerves. Hopkins didn’t. Or if he did, you couldn’t tell. He looked comfortable in the pocket and wasn’t afraid to let it rip.
He made a few throws that could have ended up as interceptions, but he was fortunate enough that one was called back for roughing the passer and the other was somehow tipped in the air and corralled by Eugene Hilton Jr. for a touchdown.
Hopkins finished the night throwing for 241 yards and three touchdowns.
I really think he settled in nicely, and with more experience and reps in the future for him, I feel a lot better about this offense moving forward than I did before this game.
• The running game is still nonexistent
In a game where the team is turning to a true freshman quarterback midseason, you’d like him to lean on the running game a bit. Unfortunately, it was more of the same thing; the running game was nowhere to be found.
Worse, they couldn’t get things going against one of the worst run defenses in the country. If they couldn’t do it against the Scarlet Knights, it isn’t going to happen.
Maybe Grimes wanted to get Hopkins in a rhythm and let him throw the ball more, but when it’s a one-score game for a good chunk of the game, getting the running game going would be ideal. When non-running backs are consistently the leading rushers during games, you have a problem.
Game Balls
QB Ryan Hopkins: Does Wisconsin have their QB of the future? I don’t know, but Hopkins showed us what he was capable of tonight, throwing for 241 yards and three touchdowns.
His ability to throw vertically and complete more than 75% of his passes is a breath of fresh air after some below-average quarterback play for the Badgers over the past few weeks.
One blip in his performance was a botched handoff that led to a Rutgers recovery late in the fourth quarter, but overall, it was a solid game for Hopkins.
A game ball goes to the true freshman.
WR Eugene Hilton Jr.: The second-year wide receiver has had a disappointing season, to say the least. But he seems to have a connection with Hopkins early. The two linked up four times for 44 yards and a touchdown and added a two-point conversion.
Hilton also finished the night as the Badgers’ leading rusher. He carried the ball three times tonight for 39 yards. On one of those carries, he almost broke free for a touchdown but stepped out of bounds at the 16-yard line.
A nice little breakout game for Hilton.
LB Cooper Catalano: For the second week in a row, Catalano was a man on a mission. He was all over the field, tallying 15 tackles and added 2.5 for a loss and a quarterback hit, just for good measure.
The Big Ten’s leading tackler continued to rack up tackles, bringing his total to 90 for the season.
Stats of the game
75: Ryan Hopkins completed 75% of his passes tonight, completing 18 of his 24 attempts.
8: Wisconsin had eight different receivers catch a pass tonight. Shamar Rigby and Eugene Hilton Jr. led the team with four receptions each.
5: Wisconsin got to Rutgers quarterback AJ Surace five times tonight, all by a different defensive player.
What’s next
Wisconsin (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) will hit the road again next week, traveling East to take on Maryland (3-6, 1-5 Big Ten). The Terrapins are coming off a 34-29 win over Purdue.
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