Wisconsin Football: Badger Report Card vs Cornhuskers
Wisconsin Badgers Offense: B
Wisconsin’s offense generated just 10 first half points. The Badgers marched down the field on its opening drive. The 11-play, 61-yard march took 5:47 off the clock but stalled just inside the red zone.
The only other scoring drive was actually just a scoring play. Namely, Jonathan Taylor’s 75-yard touchdown answer to Nebraska’s opening score. The other three first half possessions totaled just 17 plays and all ended in punts.
Things didn’t look much brighter to start the second half. The Badgers got the ball first and ran four plays before punting. The next series ended quickly with Hornibrook’s bad interception.
However, Wisconsin abandoned the pass after that pick and it paid huge dividends. The Badgers strung together three straight 10-play touchdown drives covering 93, 80, and 40 yards.
The final two scoring drives took 12 minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter alone.
Hornibrook finished 9/17 for 113 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Quintez Cephus again led the receivers with four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. Jonathan Taylor ran for 249 yards and two scores on 25 carries.
As a team, Wisconsin was a respectable 6/11 and averaged 7.2 yards per rush on 49 carries. The run pass split for this one was 74.2 percent run.
Hornibrook certainly regressed and the coaches lost confidence in him as they called run after run.
The final grade was far worse before halftime. But the running game’s finishing blows raise the overall mark.