Wisconsin Badgers 59, Indiana Hoosiers 7: Same Time Next Year?

In 2010, Wisconsin had a 38-10 lead at halftime against Indiana. The final score? A blowout of fantastic, pundit-angering proportions, as the Badgers finished out an 83-20 massacre in the second half with even Nate Tice, the fifth-string quarterback, scoring a touchdown.

When the Badgers headed into the half with a 38-7 lead Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, it was only natural to wonder if they could surpass last season’s output. But then Joe Brennan came in for the fourth quarter, and Joe Brennan’s fourth quarter performance made it quite obvious why Joe Brennan had to come into the game — if Russell Wilson goes down, this team is toast. Because Joe Brennan is really, really bad — with a 1-for-4, one yard performance today, he is now 3-for-11 with 12 passing yards on the season.

Luckily, what Joe Brennan does for this football team matters not. Let’s go to the numbers.

Offense Summary

Plays: 64
Yards: 529 (8.3 per play)
Points: 59 (0.92 per play)
Success Rate: 56% (36/64)

With Wilson:

Plays: 49
Yards: 471 (9.6 per play)
Points: 52 (1.06 per play)
Success Rate: 63% (31/49)

The Badgers offense was just toying with Indiana defense. It was most apparent on the highlight play of the day, a Montee Ball pass to Russell Wilson for a 25-yard touchdown, but the Badger offense was able to move the ball at will against the Hoosiers after the first drive stalled. The Badgers scored on six straight drives to end the half and then added another score in the third quarter on a 54-yard scamper by Montee Ball.

Ball was the star on offense for the Badgers, racking up 142 yards on 14 rushes, another 42 yards on a lone reception, and the aforementioned 25-yard touchdown to Wilson. The quarterback had another solid game on his quest for the Heisman as well, going 12-for-17 with 198 yards and a touchdown through the air, two rushes for 42 yards, and the receiving end of the touchdown from Ball.

Overall, the offense nearly lived up to the hyper-efficient standard set against UNLV, falling two yards per play short but scoring .06 points more per play. Indiana may be a power conference opponent, but they probably aren’t much different on the resume than UNLV — Indiana actually rates worse defensively than UNLV according to Football Outsiders. Regardless, it’s another big point total for the voters and Badger fans can’t really ask for much more.

Defense Summary

Plays: 65
Yards: 275 (4.2 yards per play)
Points: 7 (0.11 points per play)
Success Rate: 28% (18/65)

Just like against UNLV, the Badgers were run on a bit by a less-than-impressive rushing offense. Indiana doesn’t sport a great rushing attack — they rank 63rd according to Football Outsiders and average only 3.1 yards per carry — and they gashed the Badgers for 223 rushing yards on 45 attempts, 5.0 yards per carry. A large piece of that is the 67-yard touchdown by Stephen Houston. On the whole, the Hoosier rushing attack wasn’t terribly effective — only 12 of their designed rushes (not counting sacks) were considered successes (click for definition) and in the running game, success rate correlates to success much more than simple yards per play.

By either measure, the Badgers shut down the Indiana passing attack. The Hoosiers only succeeded on six of 23 passing plays and only compiled 58 yards passing (both counting sacks). The Hoosiers will be glad to see Gunner Kiel come to Bloomington next year, because the combination of Edward Wright-Baker and Tre Robinson just can’t get it done.

Really, this victory and the win against South Dakota are practically indistinguishable. All the Badgers can do now is keep putting up big victories and keep showing the voters they are an elite team. They’ll get a chance next week to show it against a quality opponent, as they’ll get a Michigan State team that could potentially move into the top 20. It will be the Badgers’ first road test of the season, and it could set the tone for the rest of the year.