MADISON – Saturday turned out to be quite rewarding for Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst and his players.
UW used big plays on offense, special teams and defense in grinding out a 20-14 victory over Army in front of an announced crowd of 76,314 on Saturday night at Camp Randall Stadium.
UW had to endure a late onside kick after Army drove 77 yards for a touchdown in just seven plays and 1 minute 59 seconds to pull within six points but linebacker Jack Sanborn fell on the ball and the Badgers improved to 3-3 after an ugly 1-3 start.
“We won,” a relieved safety Collin Wilder said. “It’s a W. It’s in the right column.
“But it was closer than what we wanted.”
The victory came a few hours after unranked Purdue stunned No. 2-ranked Iowa, 24-7, in Iowa City.
The results set up an intriguing two-week stretch for UW (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten).
The Badgers play at Purdue (4-2, 2-1) next week and then host Iowa (6-1, 3-1) on Oct. 30.
If the Badgers can win both games they would be in fantastic position to make a run at the Big Ten West Division title.
Don’t tell that to the players, though.
Several noted their focus is on Purdue. Iowa and the rest of the schedule can wait.
“It’s something that doesn’t really need to be said,” safety Scott Nelson said. “This program…you can’t look too far ahead.”
UW’s top three tailbacks Saturday night were Chez Mellusi, Braelon Allen and walk-on Brady Schipper.
Isaac Guerendo (foot) had surgery Thursday and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
Allen, who rushed for 131 yards one week earlier at Illinois, rushed 16 times for 108 yards against Army (4-2).
His 33-yard touchdown run in the second quarter helped UW build its lead to 13-0 at the break.
Mellusi, who rushed for 145 yards at Illinois and came in averaging 95.4 rushing yards per game, finished with 66 yards on 16 carries.
Quarterback Graham Mertz lost a fumble early and threw several balls into coverage. However, his 36-yard strike to Danny Davis to the Army 16 was a key play on UW’s second-scoring drive.
He finished 8 of 15 for 112 yards and also rushed for two touchdowns. His second touchdown came on a 1-yard sneak with 2:43 left to help UW build its lead to 20-7.
Both Mertz and head coach Paul Chryst noted the offense needs to be more consistent and more efficient.
“I can’t put the ball on the ground,” said Mertz, who noted the ball was knocked free as he was trying to tuck it under his right arm. “I’ve just got to be quicker. We (practiced) it all week, working on ball security. That’s on me…
“And there were some plays we need to clean up.”
The strike to Davis came one play after UW executed a fake punt from its 40-yard line, with linebacker Jack Sanborn taking a direct snap and gaining 8 yards on fourth and 1.
The fake has been in the game plan in previous weeks but UW got the look from Army it anticipate and the call was on.
Mertz converted UW’s first third-down chance with a 12-yard completion to tight end Jake Ferguson to the UW 42.
But Mertz was sacked and fumbled two plays later and the Black Knights’ took over at the Badgers’ 43
UW’s defense recorded a three and out, however.
Neither team could move the ball and UW took over at its 5 late in the quarter after Dean Engram called for a fair catch on a 41-yard punt.
UW’s offense was unfazed by the poor field position.
Allen rushed seven times for 72 yards on the 12-play touchdown drive, which he capped with a 33-yard run with 12:58 left in the half to help UW take a 7-0 lead.
UW’s defense continued to stymie Army’s ground game and the Badgers got their next score thanks to some special-teams trickery.
UW faced fourth and 1 from its 40 when the punting unit took the field.
The snap went directly to Sanborn, however, and the senior linebacker followed blocks from Leo Chenal and John Chenal for 8 yards to the 48.
“All I knew was that I needed a yard,” Sanborn said. “Just run forward.”
Mertz hit Davis for 36 yards to the Army 16 on the next play and capped the drive three plays later with a 5-yard bootleg with 3:22 left in the half.
Collin Larsh’s conversion attempt was blocked, keeping UW’s lead at 13-0.
The Black Knights took the second-half kickoff and moved from their 25 to the UW 26, thanks largely to a 36-yard pass play.
The drive stalled there, however, and Army came up empty when Cole Talley was wide right from 43 yards with 11:43 left in the quarter.
That was the best scoring chance either team had in a quarter that was, to be polite, uneventful.
UW’s defense finally caved early in the final quarter after the Black Knights took over at their 46 after a punt.
Quarterback Tyhier Tyler was knocked out of the game for one play but returned to rip off a 36-yard run to the UW 9.
Tyler scored three plays later on a 5-yard run to help the Black Knights pull within 13-7 with 11:22 left.
UW, a double-digit favorite, was suddenly in a precarious position.
Now it would be up to the UW offense to respond.
UW drove from its 25 to the Army 31 but a screen to Chimere Dike lost 4 yards on third down and UW faced fourth and 13 with 4:47 left.
The Badgers used their first timeout of the half to discuss the situation and opted to punt.
Conor Schlichting came on and executed a pooch punt downed at the Army 9 with 4:38 left.
Could Army drive 91 yards on UW’s defense?
No. Leo Chenal made sure of that.
The Black Knights faced first and 10 from their 20 after picking up a first down when Chenal sacked reserve quarterback Jabari Laws and forced a fumble recovered at the 1 by Keeanu Benton with 2:55 left.
The replay official upheld the call on he field and Mertz sneaked in for the score on the next play to help UW push its lead to 20-7.
“We needed the ball back and we finally got it back,” Benton said. “That was definitely the game-changing moment that we needed.”
UW’s players could exhale.
Army’s players didn’t quit, however.
The Black Knights drove 77 yards for their second touchdown to pull within 20-14 with 38 seconds left.
Army tried an onside kick but Sanborn recovered at the Black Knights’ 46 with 37 seconds left.
Sanborn noted UW worked on recovering a similar kick during practice but he bobbled the ball, which allowed the kickoff unit to recover the ball.
“We practice it once a week,” he said. “I messed up. I told everyone I got it out of the way that day and that Saturday I’d (recover) it.”
Aesthetically pleasing? Not quite. But UW is finally back to even.
“It doesn’t matter if it is pretty,” Nelson said. “It doesn’t matter if it is a 60-point win or a one-point win.
“As long as we win, that’s all that matters.”
