Wisconsin Badgers Lose 20-14 to Indiana: Here's What Stood Out
Recap from the Badgers loss to Indiana.
During the second quarter, with 11:30 left on the clock and the Wisconsin Badgers football team facing a 3rd & seven, officials called a false start on “everyone except the center.” That penalty foreshadowed the humiliating result that would soon become reality.
Luke Fickell and the short-handed Badgers played down to its opponent and lost 20-14 to Indiana on Saturday at Memorial Stadium for the first time since 2002, dropping to 5-4 on the season and 3-3 in Big Ten play.
Here are a few things that stood out from the Wisconsin Badgers embarrassing week 10 loss to Tom Allen and the Hoosiers.
UW Looked Completely Lost on Offense
Entering Saturday’s game, the Indiana Hoosiers had allowed 21+ points to every FBS opponent it has faced this year and 31+ in its last four games … until today, that is.
Wisconsin football played without several key offensive starters, most notably Braelon Allen. Still, there’s no way the Badgers should lose a game to a (previously) winless team in conference play that was 2-21 in Big Ten contests dating back to 2021.
It wasn’t until the fifth drive of the game that Wisconsin’s offense finally made something happen with under six minutes remaining in the first half.
On a crucial third down, Braedyn Locke connected with Bryson Green over the middle. Green made a couple of nice plays to evade defenders and sprinted 54 yards to score his first touchdown of the season, bringing Wisconsin back within striking distance to put the Badgers down 10-7.
But the Wisconsin Badgers defense let Indiana walk down the field and score another touchdown on an incredible catch in the back of the endzone with 0:41 seconds left before halftime to extend their lead to 17-7.
In the second half, Wisconsin football orchestrated a promising opening drive that ended with Locke having ample time to work through his progressions, eventually delivering a touchdown pass to Will Pauling, who was wide open in the corner of the end zone to reduce the deficit to just three points.
In total, the Badgers outgained Indiana 187-36 in the second half but couldn’t capitalize. Indiana benefitted from a late pass interference call, where the Hoosiers moved the ball into field goal range afterward and successfully made a 50-yard field goal that extended their lead to 20-14.
With 1:10 on the clock and no timeouts, the Wisconsin Badgers could not orchestrate a scoring drive, and Indiana secured a home upset victory. It was a pathetic overall showing all around — no two ways about it.
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