Iowa finds no answers for Badgers
Wisconsin safety Collin Wilder was planning his Halloween costume this week when he bought a red and white hat for $7 at a mall and wrote a message on it with a Sharpie.
Just like that, he came up with the object that best symbolizes how the Badgers have turned their season around.
Wisconsin forced three turnovers and produced six sacks in a 27-7 victory over No. 9 Iowa on Saturday that enabled the Badgers to maintain control of their destiny in the Big Ten West Division race. Each time a Wisconsin player made a big play on defense, he wore Wilder’s hat with the homemade slogan, “The Grit Factory.”
Consider it a more blue-collar, Midwestern version of Miami’s turnover chain.
“That’s the mentality of this whole program, is grit,” said Wilder, who intended to dress up as a factory worker or mechanic for Halloween. “I feel like that’s what this program was built on. When you talk about the grit factory, this is the factory of grit - the University of Wisconsin.”
That mentality has helped Wisconsin (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) win four straight after losing three of its first four games.
“A lot of people counted us out,” said Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz, who scored on two quarterback sneaks and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jake Ferguson. “Everybody in that locker room, that never even crossed our mind.”
Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen rushed for 104 yards on 20 attempts. The 17-yearold freshman has run for over 100 yards in four straight games after totaling just 12 carries in Wisconsin’s first four games.
Iowa (6-2, 3-2) has been outscored 51-14 in its last two games after being ranked second in the nation just a couple of weeks ago. This was the Hawkeyes’ first game since a 24-7 home loss to Purdue on Oct. 16.
“There’s no panic,” Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras said. “We’ve been there before. We started last season 0-2. The biggest thing is pushing through when you get knocked down like this. There’s no quit in this team.”
Doege, Brown lead West Virginia: Jarret Doege threw three touchdown passes, Leddie Brown ran for two scores and West Virginia upset No. 22 Iowa State 38-31 on Saturday.
West Virginia (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) came alive on offense after averaging 20 points in its first four conference games.
Iowa State (5-3, 3-2) was missing leading tackler Mike Rose because of an undisclosed injury and the league’s top defense gave up a season-high 492 yards. The linebacker had started all 45 previous games in his career.
Ridder, Whyle, help No. 2 Bearcats top Tulane: Two underwhelming victories in a row has Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell answering questions about whether the still unbeaten, second-ranked Bearcats are living up to their billing.
Ridder connected twice with tight end Josh Whyle for touchdowns, and No. 2 Cincinnati pulled away late for a 31-12 victory Saturday over a struggling but feisty Tulane squad that didn’t trail by more than nine points until the latter half of the fourth quarter.
“We know we’ve got to do a better job,” Fickell said. “We know what brings the energy to our program. We’ve got to find better ways to get that going earlier in games.”
Brown throws for 3 TDS and Oregon downs Colorado: Anthony Brown Jr. threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 7 Oregon amassed a season-high 568 total yards in a 52-29 victory over Colorado on Saturday.
Travis Dye ran for two touchdowns and caught another for Oregon (7-1, 6-1 Pac-12), which extended its winning streak at Autzen Stadium to 17 games.
Brendon Lewis threw for 224 yards and three TDs for the Buffaloes (2-5, 1-4) who were outmatched by the Ducks. Brenden Rice, son of San Francisco 49ers great Jerry Rice, had 102 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Wake Forest stays perfect: Sam Hartman continued his recent tear by accounting for five touchdowns to help No. 13 Wake Forest beat Duke 45-7 on Saturday, giving the Demon Deacons their best start in program history.
Hartman threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 61 yards and two scores, including a 26-yarder, for the Demon Deacons (8-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Williams throws 6 TD passes, Oklahoma routs Texas Tech: Caleb Williams threw for 402 yards and six touchdowns and No. 4 Oklahoma finally put everything together, rolling past Texas Tech 52-21 on Saturday.
“Fantastic team win,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “Just a complete performance all the way around. Offense, defense, special teams — huge contributions from everybody. Really loved the week of preparation. The guys did a really good job carrying it over from from the practice field to the game field.”