Road to Week 1: Simulating Week 13 of the Badgers 2024 Season in CFB 25

No. 22 Wisconsin (7-3) at Nebraska (6-4)

Phil Longo's offense stuttered early, going 3-and-out on their first two possessions and failing to reach Cornhusker territory until their fourth drive, which began at the Nebraska 38 after a 22-yard punt return by CJ Williams. Still, Wisconsin had to work for every yard, as Mellusi rushed for four yards, three yards and negative three yards after Williams' return, resulting in a 51-yard field goal from Nathaniel Vakos.

While the offense slowly found their footing, Wisconsin's defense stepped up in a major way. They forced a fumble and a pair of sacks while keeping Nebraska off the scoreboard in the first quarter.

Lengthy drives were few and far between in the second quarter, but it would be Nebraska who found paydirt first, capitalizing on strong field position after pinning the Badgers inside their own ten on the previous drive.

The Cornhuskers required only four plays to pick up the 45 yards of space between themselves and the end zone, with a 12-yard pass from Dylan Raiola to Jamahl Banks capping off the drive.

After another punt, Wisconsin's defense stepped up once more, as RJ Delancy picked off Raiola and returned the interception 23 yards to Nebraska's 33 yard line. However, Tyler Van Dyke and the offense couldn't even muster a first down, settling for a 40-yard field goal to make the score tilt 7-6 in favor of Nebraska.

Raging with momentum, Wisconsin's defense forced a 3-and-out on the ensuing drive, leaving the offense with 1:47 left in the first half to reclaim the lead.

Van Dyke completed his first two attempts, which combined for 12 yards and brought the Badgers to Nebraska's 31. Yet again, Wisconsin couldn't go any further than that, with a dropped pass by Vinny Anthony, a sack, and a two-yard completion to Will Pauling leading to a 50-yard field goal make from Vakos.

Despite an awful offensive performance, the Badgers entered halftime ahead 9-7.

In classic Big 10 football fashion, the third quarter featured a battle between punters. All six drives in the period resulted in punts, with the final boot sending the ball to Williams and Wisconsin.

The Badgers and Cornhuskers exchanged 3-and-outs on their first two drives, respectively, until a 22-yard rush from Mellusi threatened to break the stalemate. The scamper pushed Wisconsin to the Cornhusker 42, but a two-yard rush, a sack and a dropped pass sent Atticus Bertrams onto the field.

Bertrams' punt bounced through the endzone, forcing Nebraska to start from their own 20. On the third play of the drive, Nebraska tailback Mychal Beckwith found a gaping hole in the Badger defense, punishing Wisconsin with a 46-yard run.

While Wisconsin would keep Nebraska from moving the sticks again, the damage was already done as a 39-yard field goal pushed the Cornhuskers ahead 10-9 with 3:47 left in the fourth quarter.

Still scoreless in the second half, Wisconsin finally was able to move the ball consistently after the Nebraska FG. After three rushes from Tawee Walker and a trio of short completions, the Badgers entered opposing territory.

With 1st and 10 from Nebraska's 38, Wisconsin ran the ball on three straight plays, forcing Nebraska to burn timeouts, but cutting the drive short. Vakos -- who had aleady made three field goals -- again came out to attempt a 50-yarder. Like a machine, Vakos slotted the kick through the uprights to give Wisconsin a 12-10 lead with 1:08 to play.

All the Badgers had to do to secure the win was not allow a big play or give up penalty yards.

They did both.

On the very first play of the drive, Ben Barten was flagged for roughing the passer. The next play? a 24-yard completion from Raiola to Banks, putting Nebraska at Wisconsin's 28-yard line.

They'd corral eight insurance yards, taking the clock down to four seconds before spiking it to bring up fourth down.

In the closing seconds, Wisconsin watched their dwindling hopes of a College Football Playoff berth plummet as Tristan Alvano connected a 37-yard field goal to give Nebraska the win.

Wisconsin finished with 189 yards of total offense as the team averaged 1.9 yards per rush and failed to reach 100 passing yards.

FINAL: Nebraska 13, No. 22 Wisconsin 12

Stat Leaders after 13 Weeks

Passing - Van Dyke: 152/236 (64%) for 1,937 yards and 16/4 TD:INT

Rushing - Mellusi: 200 rushes for 924 yards (4.6 ypc) and 5 TD

Receiving - Anthony: 45 receptions for 649 yards and 7 TD

Tackles - Thomas: 95

Sacks - Pius: 9.0

Interceptions - Delancy: 5