PLAYER OF THE GAME
Wake Forest wide receiver Jaquarii Roberson gave UW’s secondary fits from start to finish and recorded eight catches for 131 yards and three scores – 4, 18 and 8 yards.
He was fantastic.
Linebacker Jack Sanborn led UW in tackles with 11, including six solo and two for loss, and had one of the team’s four interceptions.
He made plays throughout the day and was named the game MVP.
But the game ball goes to the UW defensive staff and the players, who never flinched.
Consider that Wake Forest on its first two series rolled up 136 yards and two scores on 15 plays, an average of 9.1 yards per play. The Demon Deacons converted 4 of 4 third-down chances. The Demon Deacons had 12 full possessions and a single one-play possession after that. They gained 382 yards on 72 plays, an average of 5.3 yards per play, and scored two more touchdowns. But one came in the final seconds after the outcome had been decided and they suffered four turnovers and converted only 3 of 12 thirddown chances.
Coaches generally are hesitant to share any adjustments made during the game or at halftime but even a casual college football fan could see how much better UW’s defense played after getting sliced and diced on the first two series. “They were doing a great job early in the game, but they were running a lot of the same concepts over and over,” Sanborn said. “Credit to the film study of the players and the coaches in helping us out, giving us the opportunity to go out there and make the play with where we should look, where our eyes should be. “And guys stepped up and made those plays.”
OFFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME
Already facing a 14-0 deficit, UW faced fourth and 1 from its 34 late in the first quarter.
Head coach Paul Chryst, who is comfortable punting in plus-territory and relying on his defense, eschewed the punt this time.
Quarterback Graham Mertz gained 3 yards on a sneak to the 37 with 3:48 left in the quarter for the critical first down. How important was that conversion, which left UW 5 of 12 on fourth-down tries this season?
UW needed six plays to move the ball to the Wake Forest 2 and fullback John Chenal capped the drive by powering into the end zone with 13:28 left in the half to help UW pull within 14-7.
The comeback was officially on. “Felt like we had a good chance of getting it,” Chryst said. “There’s risk involved with it.
“But felt like if we were going to win the game, you had to be able to make some plays. That was one that fortunately we did.”
DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME
Pinned at their 1-yard line after 45-yard punt by Conor Schlichting, the Demon Deacons rode the arm of quarterback Sam Hartman to move methodically down the field to the UW 28.
The Demon Deacons appeared on their way to breaking a 21-21 tie in the third quarter.
Outside linebacker Noah Burks had other ideas.
Hartman tried to hit tailback Christian Beal-Smith in the left flat but it appeared he never saw Burks in the area. Burks made an easy interception and gained 41 yards to Wake Forest 32 with 2:04 left in the quarter.
Two plays later, Mertz hit fullback Mason Stokke for a 14-yard touchdown and UW had the lead for good.
The interception was the result of a shrewd pre-snap adjustment. Cornerback Caesar Williams was on that side of the field and saw Burks would have to cover the tight end one-on-one. He suggested a change and Burks passed off the tight end to Sanborn, who was initially supposed to cover Beal-Smith.
Sanborn took the tight end, who ran an in-breaking route, and Burks drifted into the flat to cover Beal-Smith
“I don’t think the quarterback saw him at all,” Sanborn said. “He just floated it up there.”
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY OF THE GAME
UW’s special teams committed two minor errors in the first half.
The punting unit was penalized 5 yards for delay of game and Dean Engram fielded a long punt at his 6 and gained nothing, leaving the offense in precarious field position.
Neither mistake cost UW points, though, and the units then came up with two key plays to help wipe out a 14-7 deficit. Schlichting hit a 31-yard pooch punt to the Wake Forest. Six plays later, the Demon Deacons were punting from their 21.
The snap was low and punter Ivan Mora struggled to field it cleanly. That allowed UW’s Jaylan Franklin to work free off the left side of the Wake Forest formation and block the punt.
INSIDE THE HUDDLE
UW set a program record for points in a bowl game with 42. That broke the mark of 38, set in the 1996 Copper bowl against Utah.
The Badgers’ six touchdown drives covered 75, 9, 33, 32, 2 and 3 yards.
The 14-0 deficit UW overcame marked the program’s largest comeback in a bowl game.
UW held the ball longer than its opponents in every game this season. The Badgers on Wednesday held the ball for 33:52 to 26:08 for Wake Forest.
QUOTABLE
“It has been adversity and handling adversity since before the season started…Throughout the year we’ve all had to learn to just bounce back and keep on pushing. We got ourselves into a really bad position down, 14-0. But everyone was calm.” – Jack Sanborn, UW linebacker
BY THE NUMBERS
1
Interceptions thrown this season by Wake Forest’s Hartman entering the bowl game
Interceptions by the Badgers, matching their total through six games
Bowl victories for UW in Chryst’s six seasons
Points scored by UW off Wake Forest turnovers
4
5
21