Wisconsin came out, punched Bowling Green in the mouth and never really looked back. They scored 51 unanswered points and the Badgers did some record breaking on their way to a 68-17 victory over Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon.
Melvin Gordon went off in a big way, scoring a career-high five touchdowns and becoming the sixth Badger running back to hit that mark. He was just part of a crazy story for Wisconsin on the ground, as they picked up 644 yards on the ground as a team and set a new single-game school record in the process.
The Badgers managed to set the school record for total yards in a game as well with 756 yards and nine touchdowns to their credit.
Quarterback Tanner McEvoy showed why the coaching staff wanted him on the field too, going for 158 yards with one touchdown on the ground. He didn’t need to throw much, but he connected on 9-of-16 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown with one interception. That’s 280 yards and two touchdowns of total offense. Getting that kind of production out of your quarterback, however it comes is exactly what Wisconsin needs.
Backup running back Corey Clement was nearly an after thought and he went for 111 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Hell, just converted running back Dare Ogunbowale went for 94 yards in his first game as a running back.
However, there were points of concern as the Badgers turned the ball over three times in the first half and they gave up a few explosive plays to Bowling Green’s attack, two of which came with the game still in doubt.
Overall though, this was about as dominating as we’ve seen the Badgers in a long time.
Badger of the Game: Melvin Gordon
He scored four touchdowns, ran for 179 yards and averaged 16.3 yards a carry — all in the first half. Do we really need to say anything more? Oh we can and will, because every one of his four touchdowns was more spectacular than the previous one.
Gordon capped off his four TD first half with a crazy spin move, bouncing off a tackle, juking another defender and back across the field for a 21-yard score. Oh and touchdown No. 5 on the day was a 69-yard scamper to cap it all off.
He ended the game with 253 yards on 13 carries with the five touchdowns to his name. No big deal.
All that’s left to say? Ameer Abdullah – you’re move.
Turning Point: Defensive stand after 2nd turnover
The Badgers turned the ball over three times in the first half, but the second of them could’ve been really costly. Instead, the Falcons couldn’t convert like they did on the first turnover.
Wisconsin’s defense held them to a 3-and-out with 11 yards of lost ground after that fumble. It put them with the back to the end zone and a 57 yard punt was returned 40 yards by Kenzel Doee.
McEvoy seemed to have it click after that defensive stand as well, as he went on to rush for 158 yards and a touchdown. Doing that, along with getting Gordon going was a major difference maker and I don’t know if it happens without the wake up call of the second fumble.
Stat of the Game: Gordon’s records….
• Junior RB Melvin Gordon tied the school record and became the sixth Badger to score five touchdowns in a game, joining Billy Marek, Anthony Davis, Lee Evans, Brian Calhoun (did it twice) and P.J. Hill. The last player to score five TDs in a game was Hill, who did so on Sept. 15, 2007 in a 45-31 win over The Citadel. Gordon’s personal best was three TDs twice last season (Sept. 21, 2013 vs. Purdue and Oct. 19, 2013 at Illinois).
• Gordon went over the 100-yard rushing mark with 11:18 left in the second quarter and had 179 rushing yards at halftime. He finished with 13 carries for a career-high 253 yards. His average of 19.5 yards per carry smashed the UW record for average per carry in a game with at least 10 attempts (14.9 by Ken Starch on Sept. 28, 1974 vs Colorado).
• Gordon’s 253 rushing yards today are the most by a running back vs. an FBS team this season (Duke’s Shawn Wilson had 245 yards vs. Kansas on Sept. 13).
• Gordon is now tied for the NCAA career lead in yards per carry, averaging 8.26 yards per carry. That ties Army’s Glenn Davis, who averaged 8.26 yards per carry from 1943-46.
• It was Gordon’s second career 200-yard rushing game, the 11th time in his career that he has rushed for at least 140 yards and his 12th 100-yard rushing game.
• Gordon had a 40-yard run late in the first quarter, a 50-yard TD run in the second quarter and a 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He now has 14 rushes of 40 or more yards in his career.
Tweet of the Game:
I guess you know you have a good football team when you can have 3 TO's and only 56 yards passing, but be up 34-10 in the first half.
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) September 20, 2014
Highlight of the Game: Gordon’s 21-yard touchdown run
http://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:11557042
It was a thing of beauty and a reminder of how much we need to cherish having him in Badger Cardinal and White, because we’ve only got precious few moments.
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