Sunday, September 25, 2016

Domination: Wisconsin destroys Michigan State 30-6 in East Lansing

I’ll admit I had my doubts about Wisconsin as a legitimate Big Ten contender.
Not anymore.
The 11th-ranked Badgers marched into East Lansing and destroyed No. 8 Michigan State 30-6 at Spartan Stadium. Redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook was impressive in his first career start, but it was the Badgers’ defense that dominated all day long.
Wisconsin allowed only 75 yards rushing and forced the Spartans into four turnovers in the win. The Badgers were able to bottle up MSU running back L.J. Scott, forcing first-year starting QB Tyler O’Connor to beat them. O’Connor played well at Notre Dame last weekend, but the constant pressure from Wisconsin was too much for the senior to handle. O’Connor completed just 47 percent of his passes (18-of-38) and threw three costly interceptions.
On the other side, the Wisconsin offense wasn’t flashy, but it was effective. Hornibrook’s statline won’t wow anybody, but he stood in the pocket against an aggressive Spartans defense and threaded the needle with beautiful passes all afternoon — especially on third down. The Badgers converted seven of their first 11 third-down attempts, many of which were on pinpoint passes from Hornibrook, who shook off an early fumble to put forth a great performance.
This one was tightly contested early. Michigan State opened the scoring with a field goal after Hornibrook’s fumble, but the Wisconsin offense responded with a bruising 16-play, 65-yard scoring drive that spanned 7:38. The Badgers converted on two fourth-down plays — both fullback dives — on the drive before Hornibrook found tight end Eric Steffes for a one-yard score in the final minute of the first quarter.
The teams traded punts on the next two drives before the Wisconsin defense made its first big play of the day. O’Connor, under heavy pressure, forced a pass to the sideline and UW’s Sojourn Shelton made him pay with an interception. Six plays later, Corey Clement was in the end zone from a yard out to extend the Wisconsin lead to 13-3 (missed extra point).
Michigan State added another field goal before half and Wisconsin went to the break up just a touchdown.
The Spartans got off to a promising start in the second half, quickly forcing a three-and-out and moving the ball on offense, but those good vibes changed in an instant. Scott had a head of steam inside the Wisconsin 40, but fumbled on a big hit from D’Cota Dixon. The loose ball bounced right into the hands of safety Leo Musso, who after an awesome spin move, took it 66 yards for a score.
The Badgers cruised from there, adding a field goal and a touchdown on their next two drives. The touchdown, a five-yard run from Clement, followed another Michigan State blunder — a high snap the punter couldn’t handle that was recovered by UW — was the exclamation of a dominant win.
The win is a huge one for the Badgers. As good as the defense has been through three games, the offense was a huge concern in last week’s 23-17 comeback home win against lowly Georgia State. The offense just couldn’t find a rhythm with fifth-year senior Bart Houston at quarterback, so coach Paul Chryst went to Hornibrook in the second half against GSU. Hornibrook led the Badgers to the win last week, and he continued his strong play Saturday in a tough environment. His accuracy and poise in the pocket showed he is a clear upgrade at the position.
A Big Ten West division that looked very weak when the season started now has three solid teams — Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa — battling for that top spot. Iowa, after its undefeated regular season in 2015, has struggled while Nebraska entered the Top 25 with a win over Oregon last weekend. With Saturday’s win, the Badgers look a head above the others.
For MSU, this team has major issues on offense. Mark Dantonio has the benefit of a relatively easy upcoming schedule (Indiana, BYU, Northwestern, Maryland) to get things corrected. If the offense doesn’t show major improvement, MSU has no shot to compete with Ohio State and Michigan in the East division.
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