(21) Wisconsin 52, Rutgers 3: 2-minute drill

November 6, 2021
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — No. 21 Wisconsin played its most complete game of the season Saturday to earn a fifth straight win with a 52-3 beatdown of Rutgers at SHI Stadium.

Game Balls

Offense: Wisconsin’s passing game

The Badgers have relied on their running game in a four-game winning streak entering Saturday’s tilt and they certainly did enough of that Saturday with 305 yards. But it was the passing game coming alive for the first time in the conference season that earns the honor here.

After throwing an interception on his second pass of the game, quarterback Graham Mertz hit on 10 of his last 14 throws and three touchdowns. That included going 4-for-6 on third or fourth down with a pair of scores. The first was a pretty play-action toss to John Chenal on fourth down to make it 17-3 in the second quarter. Then, just before the half, Mertz looked to Kendric Pryor on a 50-50 ball in the end zone and the senior wide receiver came down with it for a 25-yard touchdown. Mertz finished his day off by getting the ball in Danny Davis’ hands and letting him do the rest of the work on a 72-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

It was Mertz’s best game of the season and could be considered his top effort since his debut against Illinois to start the 2020 season. He finished 11-for-16 for 240 yards and none of Wisconsin’s drives ended with a punt when he was in the game.

“100-percent,” Mertz said when asked if he has been able to shrug off the up-and-down struggles of the season and seen his confidence grow. “I’m trusting my journey. I’m trying to grow every week. I’ve never let anything get to my head.”

Wisconsin finished with more than 250 yards rushing and passing for the first time in a Big Ten game since 2010 and scored 50+ points in a conference game for the first time since Paul Chryst became head coach in 2015.

“I’ve always said it, man, we know if we can utilize the run off the pass, and the pass off the run, that would make this team complete with how great our defense has been,” Davis said. “We will celebrate that tonight but understand that we want to be consistent with that and have that be our culture for the rest of our season.”

Defense: Caesar Williams

Williams made the defensive play of the game when things were at least somewhat still in doubt. The Badgers had just scored to make it 17-3 with 5:18 left in the first half. On the first snap of the ensuing drive, quarterback Noah Vedral was pressured by defensive tackle Keeanu Benton and sailed the ball towards wide receiver Shameen Jones. However, Jones was about two feet too short, with the ball instead finding the hands of Williams. He took off down the sideline for a 29-yard touchdown and the rout was on.

“I knew I wasn’t going to get many chances of the ball being thrown my way, so it was it was just capitalizing on that opportunity,” Williams said. “The hardest part of the play was just making sure I caught the ball.”

It was one of three turnovers forced by the defense on the day and Wisconsin forced four overall. The Badgers have now produced 12 turnovers in the last three games after having four in the first six contests.

“I think causing turnovers gets contagious,” safety Collin Wilder said. “And once you get into that rhythm, I think you really start to gain that confidence as a defense that, OK, we can do this. It’s hard to explain, but once you start playing with that confidence, I mean, it truly makes a difference. We’re continuing to make it a habit throughout the week during practice and it is starting to pay off.”

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They Said It

“November football is where champions are made. You have to play your best football in November. You should be playing your best football in November because you’re getting closer to the end of the season. And when November football comes, championship football follows if you handle everything the right way.”

— Caesar Williams on trying to make November a month to remember

“One and three is definitely not the way we wanted to start the year. And we put the mentality of like, hey, we are not going to let this happen anymore. We are going to dig ourselves out of this hole we put ourselves in and you can kind of see it trending upwards. I think we’re playing our best ball now and it’s the best time to do it.”

— OL Tanor Bortolini on being 6-3 after starting the season 1-3

“No, because we were there. We felt it and we understood what that was like. How people were writing us off, people were laughing at us, saying all this stuff. I don’t think people just forget that. There’s still so much that we need to do, so much that we can do.”

— LB Jack Sanborn on whether 1-3 feels like a long time ago

In Case You Missed It

— Wisconsin lost running back Chez Mellusi to what the team called a left leg injury. It came on his 15th carry of the game and it appeared to happen when he planted his left leg and went down without being touched after an 11-yard gain. He immediately grabbed his left knee but was able to limp off the field.

Once Mellusi got to the sideline, he went into the injury tent where he stayed for an extended period. Players and coaches stopped in to check on him, including Chryst. He eventually walked gingerly to the locker room. Chryst said after that they will know more in the coming days, but it does not sound like it will be positive news for Wisconsin’s leading rusher.

— Right guard Jack Nelson went down late in the first half but it remains unclear what exactly happened as no cameras caught the injury. Mertz threw a pass and you can see Nelson pass blocking but there is no apparent injury when the camera is on him. Center Joe Tippmann was asked afterwards what happened.

“I was looking at (Nelson) and talking to him and then I looked back at (Mertz) to make sure he was up,” Tippmann said. “I looked back and now (Nelson) was face first in the turf.”

Wisconsin usually at least gives a body part in its injury update but did not with Nelson.

— Kickers are not just here for kicking apparently. At least Jack Van Dyke is not. The sophomore is Wisconsin’s kickoff specialist, but he also makes an effort to cover the kick as well. It is what led to him meeting former Badgers returner Aron Cruickshank in a gap on a second quarter return, making the tackle and forcing a fumble that he also recovered.

“They always want us to cover the kick whether it’s a touchback or not, but I try to make an emphasis on getting down on the field and getting in some action,” said Van Dyke, who played defensive back in high school. “It was super fun to make a play today.”

Cruickshank suffered what appeared to be a right leg injury on the play.

— Tanor Bortolini got the start at left guard, the third different position he has started a game at in his career. After the injury to Nelson, Bortolini moved to right guard in the second half, with Josh Seltzner taking over at left guard.

— It was a game of firsts for several Badgers

Freshman RB Jackson Acker: First action, three carries, 24 yards and one touchdown
Freshman RB Grovor Bortolotti: First action, five carries, 48 yards
Freshman WR Markus Allen: First action, two catches, 24 yards, one carry for four yards
Freshman LB Jordan Turner: First career interception
Freshman S Hunter Wohler: Six tackles, first career tackle for loss
Freshman OL Riley Mahlman: First action, saw time at right tackle

— Markus Allen was injured late in the game on his second catch. It appeared to be a lower leg injury and he needed help getting off the field.

Inside the Numbers

5 – That is how many games in a row Braelon Allen has run for at least 100 yards, the first freshman to do that since Anthony Davis in 2001. Allen had 129 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown against Rutgers. He is averaging 122.4 yards per game and 7.6 yards per carry during the streak.

7.4 – That is how many points Wisconsin is allowing during its five-game winning streak. The Badgers are also giving up just 185.6 yards per game in that stretch. Rutgers finished with only 207 yards despite facing Wisconsin’s backups for much of the second half.

4-2 – That is Wisconsin’s record in the Big Ten, leaving it tied with Minnesota, Purdue, and Iowa for first in the West Division.

What’s Next

Wisconsin (6-3, 4-2) will welcome Northwestern (3-6, 1-5) to Madison next Saturday.