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Wisconsin Football v. Oregon: Gut Reactions & Highlights

By Paul Bretl

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 01: Quintez Cephus #87 of the Wisconsin Badgers catches a pass against the Oregon Ducks during the third quarter in the Rose Bowl game presented by Northwestern Mutual at Rose Bowl on January 01, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 01: Quintez Cephus #87 of the Wisconsin Badgers catches a pass against the Oregon Ducks during the third quarter in the Rose Bowl game presented by Northwestern Mutual at Rose Bowl on January 01, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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It was a sloppy game for the Wisconsin Football team as they handed this game to Oregon. Here are the gut reactions and highlights from this game.

For the most part the Wisconsin Football team dominated this game. The defense played excellent, but four turnovers was just too much for them to overcome. As always and for the last time of the 2019 season, here are the gut reactions and highlights from their matchup with Oregon.

  • There is just something about the Rose Bowl, it doesn’t get much better than this game.
  • The Oregon offense was dominant on their opening drive, going 12 plays and 75 yards for the touchdown. However, the Badger defense responded very well after that.
  • Oregon boasts one of the best run defenses in college football and that was evident today as they were able to bottle up Jonathan Taylor.
  • There is no doubt about it, Taylor has been simply excellent over his career, but if there has been an issue, it has been with fumbling the ball and he had another today.
  • While the Wisconsin offense sputtered in the first half, it was Aaron Cruickshank who gave them two huge boosts with a kick return for a touchdown and another big return before half that setup a touchdown.

https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/1212501278179438592

  • With the running game struggling to get any sort of traction, Wisconsin relied heavily on Jack Coan and the passing game in which he responded well with an efficient performance just as he has done for most of the season. However, he did have an interception.
  • Pre-snap we saw Wisconsin motion and change their looks fairly regularly, and I loved it.
  • Quintez Cephus put on quite the performance and made a few fantastic plays, including this touchdown before halftime.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1212520964266889226

  • And speaking of Cephus, we will see you on Sundays, Q.
  • In addition to Cephus making plays in the passing game, it was also a nice day for Jake Ferguson who hauled in four receptions for 44 yards.
  • It was an uncharacteristically sloppy first half for the Wisconsin football team as they had two turnovers and five penalties. But they were still able to go into halftime with the lead.
  • It was a pretty standard game for the Wisconsin linebackers. Chris Orr and Zack Baun were flying all over the field making plays and we saw Jack Sanborn come away with an interception. This trio has been fantastic all season long.
  • There were just too many mistakes. We saw Taylor  and Danny Davis fumble, Coan throw an interception, and early in the third quarter, this fumbled snap on the punt resulted in a touchdown.

https://twitter.com/Pac12Network/status/1212530067043012608

  • Especially against a team of Oregon’s caliber, it is difficult to win games when you lose the turnover battle and it proved to be too much for the Badgers.
  • Wisconsin also struggled on third downs, but where they did not struggle was on fourth down as we saw aggressive Paul Chryst. And that is my favorite Paul Chryst.
  • And we also have to congratulate Jonathan Taylor who in the fourth quarter surpassed 2,000 yards for the second consecutive season.
  • Oregon scored 21 points off of Wisconsin turnovers. Sloppy. Sloppy. Sloppy.
  • Although there were four turnovers, after two of them the Badgers responded very well with touchdown scoring drives.

https://twitter.com/ESPNCFB/status/1212534333866725376

  • By the time the fourth quarter rolled around the Oregon defense looked quite tired.
  • And the reason they were so tired was because Wisconsin dominated the time of possession.
  • This is a very explosive Oregon offense that averaged over 35 points per game this season, but the Badger defense did a great job of limiting Justin Herbert through the air as well as C.J. Verdell on the ground.
  • Offensively we saw Paul Chryst pull out all the stops as we saw jet-motions, reverses, and even Garrett Groshek had a passing opportunity.
  • Wisconsin out-gained Oregon by more than 100 yards and held the ball for nearly 18 minutes longer. But lost the turnover battle 4 to 1. This felt a lot like Wisconsin’s loss to Illinois.
  • In the end, it was a game that Wisconsin controlled and should have won. However they instead handed this game to the Ducks.

Next. Badgers v. Oregon: 5 Big Questions. dark

It’s always great to be a part of the Rose Bowl, but the Badgers gave this game away and it will certainly sting for a bit. It’s a tough way to end the season.

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