After last week’s embarrassment, it took a lot for me to turn on this week’s game, but I did. Once I did it was much of the same. Drives that either barely did or couldn’t crack Illini territory and also a foolish attempt on fourth down near the goal line. As halftime approached the Illini extended their touchdown lead to two scores with a little over two minutes in the half. The Badgers got the ball back with 2:08 left in the half. True freshman, Braedyn Locke led the team on a two-minute drive that resulted in a touchdown to bring the Badgers within a score.
Another game another slow start for the Badgers. This team was always built to win the B1G West but Luke Fickell was brought in to get us over that hump once the league dissolves divisions. At this pace, there is no way we can play like this and compete with USC and Penn State let alone Ohio State and Michigan. That being said we got to see a great comeback in the second half. However, the second half started bleak as the Illini extended their lead back to 14 towards the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter came and the Badgers flipped a switch. On their first drive that was held over from the third quarter, Locke and Braelon Allen led the offense to the 23-yard line where they stalled out on third and ten with an incomplete pass. This brought out Nathanial Vakos who banged home a 41-yarder to make the score 21-10. On the Illini’s next drive, two plays in the defense allowed a big 15-yard but managed to stiffen over the next three plays and force a punt. The offense then hit the field and marched 82 yards in a little over three minutes to score a touchdown. Locke found Will Pauling in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass. On the two-point attempt, Locke connected with Riley Nowakowski to make it 21-18 Illini. On the next drive, the defense held strong after allowing one first down the got the Illini to punt the back back to the offense. Braedyn Locke marched the boys out with 3:24 left and 83 yards to the end zone with a field goal to tie or touchdown to win. The offense hummed on this drive like all the Bucky faithful had hoped for all year. The Badgers got the ball to the 11-yard line with 32 seconds left and a second down. Braelon Allen was stuffed for a two-yard loss and the Badgers faced a third down. Nolan Rucci was brought in as a tackle-eligible player and was rewarded with a yard touchdown pass. The defense did not allow the Illini to come close to the end zone in the final 27 seconds.
James