Upon Further Review: Badgers end adversity-filled season on high note with bowl victory

There were times this season when Wisconsin could have used its defense to step up for a struggling offense if the Badgers wanted to win.

In the final game of the year in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Wake Forest, it happened.

That might be hard to believe in a game in which the Badgers surrendered over 500 yards of offense, but Wisconsin had four timely second-half interceptions, not only thwarting the Demon Deacons but also setting up the offense with good field position.

The offense wasn’t exactly dynamic, gaining just 266 yards and averaging 2.8 yards per rush, but it did what it was supposed to – getting touchdowns on all six red-zone trips as Wisconsin came back from a quick 14-0 deficit and used a second-half surge in downing Wake Forest 42-28.

Thanks to the four picks, a blocked punt in the second quarter and a long kick return, Wisconsin began in Wake Forest territory six times. The Badgers scored on six of those trips, missing a 48-yard field-goal attempt on the other.

A fourth-down stop also gave Wisconsin the ball at its own 46. The Badgers punted on their possession but then the defense recorded interceptions on four straight series as Wisconsin took over the game.

While hardly a picture of perfection, it might just have been Wisconsin’s best team effort of the season, with each phase of the game coming up with big plays (and making mistakes) to help ensure the victory.

How 2020 of the Badgers, saving the best for last. Onto 2021.

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Here’s a recap of Wednesday’s bowl game:

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Inside linebacker Jack Sanborn was named the game’s MVP, so who are we to argue? With the defense coming up with such big plays, it was Sanborn who led the way with a team-high 10 tackles, two for loss and one of the interceptions. Sanborn had a big third quarter. On a second-and-5 play from the UW 49, he stopped Justin Ellison for a 1-yard loss. Two plays later, on a fourth-and-1 it was Sanborn along with Collin Wilder stuffing Ellison for no gain and a loss of downs for Wake. He had two other tackles on runs in the quarter – for a loss of 1 and a gain of 2. He then had Wisconsin’s third interception early in the fourth quarter.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME

Jack Dunn was most certainly an afterthought, at least on offense, heading into this season. As a junior he caught all of five passes for 41 yards was down on the depth chart for 2020. But due to COVID-19 and injuries, the 5-foot-7 senior suddenly stood tall among the group of wideouts, pulling down 19 receptions over the previous four games after having no catches against Michigan. When Wisconsin needed a play through the air against Wake Forest, it was Dunn usually on the receiving end. He caught six passes for 60 yards but five of them were big grabs. He had a 13-yard gain on a first-and-15; 19 yards on a second-and-12 from the Wake 30, setting up a score; nine yards on another first-and-15; nine on a second-and-5 and nine on a first-and-10 from the Wake 12, setting up yet another TD.

THAT MOMENT

There are a number of plays you could mention here: Jaylan Franklin’s blocked punt, Devin Chandler’s 59-yard kick return and a bevy of interceptions. The game turned, though, on one specific interception. With the contest tied at 21 and after getting a fourth-down stop, Wisconsin punted on a fourth-and-2 from the Wake 46, pinning the Deacons at their 1. Wake Forest appeared to make the decision to punt look bad, driving right down the field … until Sam Hartman, who had thrown one interception all season, was picked off by Noah Burks, who read a wheel route better than the receiver. The senior linebacker returned it to the Wisconsin 32 and two plays later the Badgers had the lead. The play both stole the momentum from Wake Forest and gave it to Wisconsin, which picked off Hartman on the next three drives as well.

THIS NUMBER

The Badgers set several school bowl records. Most points, 42 (previous high 38, done three times, most recently in the 2012 Rose Bowl). Most touchdowns, 6 (previous high five, done five times, most recently in the 2018 Pinstripe Bowl). Most rushing touchdowns, 5 (previous high four, done four times, most recently also in the 2018 Pinstripe). Amazing to think that Wisconsin had a three-game stretch this season in which it scored a combined 20 points. Also, the four interceptions tied a Wisconsin bowl record

THEY SAID IT

“We had a stretch there defensively in the second half, absolutely changed the game. Four picks, a fourth-down stop. That was big.” — head coach Paul Chryst

“It kind of felt like one led to the other. After three picks we were like, Collin you have to get one. Then Collin went and got one. … Wake Forest was running a lot of the same concepts over and over again, so credit to the film study of the players and the coaches giving us the opportunity to make a play, on where we should look, where our eyes should be. Guys stepped up and made those plays.” — Sanborn

“A big team win. Definitely whenever you’re down 14-0 it can be kind of deflating. But just kind of sticking to it … our time will come, keep making plays.” — safety Scott Nelson

“Obviously it’s not the national championship, but it’s a bowl game and it’s a way to to end a champion. I think the guys accepted that and had that edge going out there, you can’t control the past but we can truly control that we’re going to win and dominate this game.” — quarterback Graham Mertz

“I definitelty felt a lot of juice after that. … Turnovers are such a huge momentum changer, so to bring that to our side of the ball was great and to see the guys fired up about it was great, too.” — Noah Burks on his interception

“Yup I dropped it, that’s on me. … It will be the last trophy I ever drop, I guarantee you that.” — Mertz on dropping and breaking the Duke’s Mayo Bowl trophy in a postgame celebration

WHAT’S NEXT

Wisconsin is scheduled to play its next game Saturday, Sept. 4 at home against Penn State (we say scheduled because 1. Never know what effect COVID-19 will have on sports in the future; 2. The Badgers have moved their opener to Friday the past four seasons). Before then, we’ll find out which players might be returning in 2021 – the list includes tight end Jake Ferguson, wide receivers Danny Davis, Jack Dunn and Kendric Pryor and running back Garrett Groshek, among others.