Several players delivered for Badgers
MADISON – Paul Chryst has seen his football team beat better opponents on grander stages.
Yet considering the circumstances and physical state of the team, Wisconsin’s 47-44 victory over Purdue in three overtimes Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind., might be one of the more impressive performances in Chryst’s 52 games as UW’s head coach.
Consider that UW was without quarterback Alex Hornibrook (concussion), right tackle David Edwards (left arm), nose tackle Olive Sagapolu (right arm, out for the season) and reserve tailback Taiwan Deal (hamstring). In addition, starting safety Scott Nelson traveled but did not play.
Also consider UW had lost three of its last five games, all on the road.
Yet led by tailback Jonathan Taylor (33 carries, 321 yards and three TDs), quarterback Jack Coan (16 of 24 for 160 yards and two TDs), wide receiver Danny Davis (two TDs) and linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel (10 tackles, all solos), T.J. Edwards (10 tackles) and Ryan Connelly (nine tackles), UW overcame deficits of 7-0, 10-3, 27-13, 34-27 and 44-41 to prevail.
Here are 10 observations from the victory as UW improved to 5-3 in the Big Ten and 7-4 overall.
Taylor terrific
UW’s sophomore tailback carried
33 times and didn’t lose a yard on a single carry. He scored on runs of 80, 12 and 17 yards, with the last being the gamewinner in the third overtime.
Yet his best run may have come in regulation on UW’s tying touchdown drive.
Taylor swept around right end and wasn’t hit until he gained 12 yards to the UW 44. He gained another 23 after first contact to the Purdue 33.
Coan makes plays
Coan, making his third start in place of Hornibrook, put together his best overall performance. One week after hitting just 9 of 20 passes for 60 yards in a loss at Penn State, Coan completed 16 of 24 passes for 160 yards and two scores.
He had miscues on back-to-back plays during a third-quarter drive – taking a sack on second down and overthrowing Jake Ferguson in the end zone on third down – that ended in a field goal instead of a touchdown.
Yet Coan directed touchdown drives of 62 and 68 yards in the final quarter to help force overtime.
Davis has his day in the spotlight
Davis entered the game with 26 catches, two of which were touchdowns.
He had four catches against the Boilermakers, two of which were touchdowns. Both catches were difficult, but the first was incredible.
Davis used his left hand to ward off cornerback Antonio Blackmon in the corner of the end zone and then rose up and snared the ball with his right hand. Davis fell to his back in the end zone and maintained possession for a 5-yard touchdown to help UW pull within 2720 with 6:40 left in the game.
Pryor does the dirty work
Wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore no doubt will highlight the hustle of Kendric Pryor on Taylor’s 80-yard touchdown run.
Pryor came in motion from right to left and faked a jet sweep.
He turned to the inside near the UW 22 and saw Taylor breaking into the clear. Pryor started sprinting and engaged Blackmon near the UW 45. He came off Blackmon and pulled away near the Purdue 40 and engaged cornerback Kenneth Major near the 16.
That helped Taylor reach the end zone untouched.
Tackling trio
Van Ginkel, Edwards and Connelly showed how to tackle in space.
Van Ginkel recorded 10 tackles, all solo stops. Edwards recorded 10 tackles, nine solos. Connelly recorded nine tackles, eight solos.
The trio combined for 29 tackles, 27 solo stops.
That is incredible.
Yellow alert
UW’s offensive linemen combined for five penalties for 30 yards in regulation. Four were pre-snap penalties. In chronological order:
Jon Dietzen, false start, 5 yards; Beau Benzschawel, false start, 5 yards; Michael Deiter, holding, 10 yards; Deiter, false start, 5 yards and Logan Bruss, false start, 5 yards.
Execution, not the call, fails
UW trailed, 7-0, and faced second and goal from the 2 in the second quarter when Coan faked a handoff and ran a bootleg to the right. Coan, who could have thrown the ball away when he saw no receiver open, instead took a sack for a 9-yard loss.
UW fans on social media immediately criticized the call but the Badgers have caught teams off-guard in such situations for years.
Nothing wrong with the call. If Coan throws the ball away UW has third and goal at the 2. Instead, Coan missed Ferguson open in the end zone on third and goal from the 11 and UW settled for a field goal and a 13-10 lead.
Defensive backs struggle
UW defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard noted before the game that Purdue’s offense stresses opponents vertically and horizontally.
UW’s young cornerbacks gave up too many big plays and were also guilty of too many penalties.
Rachad Wildgoose was beaten off the line of scrimmage on Rondale Moore’s 46-yard touchdown reception. Faion Hicks gave up a 25-yard touchdown pass from David Blough to Isaac Zico in the second overtime, though the coverage was tight.
Hicks, Wildgoose and Caesar Williams were called for interference and Wildgoose added a holding call.
No quit in Van Ginkel
Van Ginkel was lined up at left outside linebacker in the opening quarter when Blough hit wide receiver Zico near the numbers at the 20.
Zico avoided the attempted tackle of Donte Burton and headed toward the end zone. Van Ginkel, however, never broke stride and caught Zico at about the 8. He punched the ball out with his right hand. The ball went into the end zone and off Wildgoose and out of bounds for a touchback.
Huge play.
Brohm is sharp but…
Can someone explain why with his team facing third and goal from the UW 2 in the final minute of the first half Purdue’s Jeff Brohm used Moore as a decoy and gave the ball to fullback Alexander Horvath on a toss to the right?
T.J. Edwards stuffed Horvath for a 1yard loss and Purdue settled for a field goal and a 10-3 lead.
Horvath entered with 43 yards on eight carries. He got one carry Saturday.