What Happened: Key Plays in Wisconsin Nebraska Game
The Situation: Wisconsin ball, 1st-and-10 on the Wisconsin 25, 1:09 left 2nd quarter
The Badgers had a somewhat fluky pick6 to score and then drove for a field goal on its next drive. But the Cornhusker defense found some answers and forced Wisconsin punts on the next three possessions.
With the Red Shed (or whatever the actual nickname for Nebraska’s home field) rocking, Wisconsin was not going to be too aggressive. After all, just 1:09 remained in the first half. But then a simple handoff to Jonathan Taylor found space and was a most satisfying immediate reply to silence the Cornhusker faithful.
The Play: Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor scampers 75 yards for a touchdown
Wisconsin had two WR to the wide side to the right of the formation. A single WR to the left. A TE was on the right side of the line in a two-point stance. At the shotgun snap, Hornibrook handed to Taylor. Everyone blocked down to the right including the TE.
Both WR to the right side ran upfield to at least distract their defenders. Quintez Cephus (the WR to the left side) ran a drag route looking for somebody to block. He never found anyone which maybe tells you something about the defense.
Taylor found a crease on the right side and it was katy bar the door. OG Beau Benzschawel and Center Tyler Biadasz had the key blocks to create the lane for Taylor. He only had to shake off one diving tackle attempt as Nebraska really had nobody home to stop the run.
The Result: Wisconsin immediately answers with a quick-strike touchdown of its own and extends the lead to 17-7
Wisconsin immediately restored the proper order of things and took a 17-7 lead which looked to be how we would get to halftime. Unfortunately, Nebraska came out aggressive and converted some third downs. Wisconsin blitzers were late getting to Lee and he was able to exploit the Badger secondary to get Nebraska a field goal before half.