Madison, Wisconsin – Wisconsin’s tough defensive effort and inconsistent offensive performance led them to a 13-6 lead over the No. 1 Oregon Ducks heading into the final period. The 76,298 in attendance bounced with great fervor as they traditionally do “Jump Around” to fire up for the fourth, but it was the Oregon Ducks who responded with 10 more points to none for the hosting Badgers to take home a 16-13 victory.
Even after Oregon took back the lead, Wisconsin went on offense twice but couldn’t capitalize. If there was a Fifth Quarter “Celebration,” many disgruntled Badger fans had left before the end. We followed them after into the rain for a long shuttle bus ride back to the parking lot. That turned out to be a good move on Collegefootballfan.com’s first trip to Camp Randall, the 97th Football Bowl Subdivision venue attended to date.
Slow start for Oregon Ducks, but…
The Oregon Ducks took an early 3-0 lead on Atticus Sappington’s 35-yard field goal. Things looked futile early for the Badgers. On each team’s first three possessions, Oregon outgained them 152 to -3. Badger DB Nyzier Fourqurean halted an early Oregon Ducks threat with an interception of a tipped pass at the UW 11. Before the first ended, however, Sappington nailed a 42-yard score for a 6-0 Duck lead.
To finish the Badger drive heading into the second quarter, they cut the lead in half with a 31-yard FG by Nikolas Vakos, 6-3. During the period, Fourqurean continued to impress with his good defensive coverage. Hunter Wohler returned an Oregon Duck punt 13 yards to his 25. Next, QB Braedyn Locke completed a 43-yard pass to Vinny Anthony II to the Oregon 16 highlighting the next Badger drive.
Surprising Badger lead
With a second and goal at the two with 25 seconds left in the half, Luke Fickell called a play that James Franklin of Penn State should take note of. With two receivers and a back between both wide left, Locke found RB Will Spalding for a touchdown basically wide open. The Wisconsin Badgers took a surprising lead after a slow start in halftime, 10-6, over the No. 1 Oregon Ducks.
For much of the game, two RBs featured the offense for each team. For the Oregon Ducks, Jordan James keyed the offense with 25 carries for 121 yards. Heisman Candidate Dillon Gabriel completed 22 of 31 for 218 yards, but he came up empty with no TDs and an INT. RB Tawee Walker performed as the mainstay for the Badgers with 97 rushing yards on 20 carries. At quarterback, Locke struggled with accuracy completing 12 of 28 for 96 passing yards. The Badger crowd gets into emulating the PA announcers call “First and ten Wisconsin!” following each first down. It was addictive.
Oregon Ducks dance to the music
On the Wisconsin first possession in the third, such a cheer went up with Walker’s three-yard run at fourth and one at the Oregon Duck 25. The crowd tried to will in a touchdown with another chant on Walker’s run to the seven. However, a sack and a penalty pushed them back from there. The Badgers had to settle for a Vakos 35-yard FG and 13-6 lead. Oregon started its next drive from the 19 and headed into the final period. The Camp Randall crowd got into singing along to the classic pop song “Buttercup!” as a prelude to the Jump Around. Things still looked good for the Badgers leading No. 1 at home.
That feeling didn’t last long. A sign could have been seeing Oregon Ducks also jumping to Wisconsin’s favorite tradition. From 13 yards out, James ran a sweep left to tie the score, 13-13, with 13:14 left to play. Later, Wisconsin’s punt from its 11 gave the Oregon Ducks good field position at the UW 43. With 2:36 to play, Sappington gave Oregon the lead with a 24-yard FG. The Badgers started from their 25, following a touchback.
Badgers battle for life
Gaining only one yard, on fourth and nine, Locke’s pass fell incomplete and Oregon took over on downs. Unable to get a first down, at the 20, the Oregon Ducks set up for a field goal. However, the fake was on and Ross James got stopped a yard short. Wisconsin took over from its 17. Locke ran for seven. With no time-outs left, with 1:38 DB Matayo Uiagalelei intercepted. The Oregon Ducks ran out the clock.
No Fifth Quarter celebration tonight at Camp Randall. The Ducks (11-0,8-0) would remain No. 1. On Monday morning, Luke Fickell fired his offensive coordinator, Phil Longo. For the third time this season, Wisconsin (5-5,3-4) led a ranked team at halftime, but lost the game in the second half. Overall, among the three they got outscored 49-3 each time. In college, you can’t fire a quarterback during a season, so you might as well start searching for a better assistant.
2024 continues
No. 1 Oregon will remain there for at least two weeks when it hosts also-new Big Ten member Washington as its new annual, season-ending rival. Wisconsin travels to Nebraska (5-5, 2-5). Winner becomes bowl eligible. For collegefootballfan.com, we keep things a little more interesting with our final MACtion game on Wednesday night. We’ll see Ohio (7-3,5-1) sitting atop the Mid-American visit Toledo (7-3, 2-4). Ou needs the win here for a shot at playing the winner of the season finale between Miami and Bowling Green. Both also currently have 5-1 MAC records. OU will still have to defeat Buffalo and the other schools each have another game left. If Toledo wins, several teams with two losses will have to be considered for the title game in Detroit on December 7.
On Saturday, we go to Murfreesboro to see Middle Tennessee (3-7, 2-4) in their last home game this year against New Mexico State (2-8,1-7). Whatever the result, for better local entertainment next season, I may consider attending more Western Kentucky games.
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-edited by Steve Koreivo – Member of Football Writers Association of America and Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly. Please click on the title to purchase from Amazon.com. Then, please submit a review. Thanks.