EAST LANSING, Mich.-Down 21-14 with less than one minute remaining in the first half Saturday, the Badgers had a chance to tie the game heading into the locker room. They had the ball with a first-and-goal on the one yard line with the game, and their undefeated season, on the line, but could not gain the necessary inches to get the ball across the goal line in four plays.
Senior running back Anthony Davis tried to go up the middle on first down, but was denied. After a UW time out, sophomore quarterback John Stocco failed to sneak the ball in. After another timeout, the Badgers tried the roll-out play that Stocco had scored on against Minnesota, but the Spartans did not bite, and he had to throw the ball away. Davis got another shot on fourth down, trying to go over the top of the line, but the Spartan defense met him and kept him out.
\They did a heck of a job,"" sophomore quarterback John Stocco said. ""Fourth and one, that's something as an offense that you want to feel like you can get, but they did a good job and played us tough.""
Couple that goal-line stand with a recovered onside kick by the Spartans to open the second half, and any and all momentum was taken from Wisconsin.
The Spartans tacked on 28 unanswered points in the second half, running away with a 49-14 victory that made the highly touted Badger defense look meek.
""What was most disappointing was that I expected to take another step today ... but we didn't,"" Head Coach Barry Alvarez said.
""It wasn't there today,"" senior safety Jim Leonhard said. ""Fundamentals were a little off, we missed a bunch of tackles that led to big plays and we can't do that. We haven't done that up to this point. For some reason it showed up today.""
The Spartans overpowered Wisconsin up front and used a dominant rushing attack that accounted for 430 yards on the ground, 281 more yards than UW had given up in any of its contests this season. Prior to Saturday's game, UW had allowed only one running back all season to break the 100-yard barrier, but saw freshman Jehuu Caulcrick and junior Jason Teague both eclipse that mark with 146 and 112 yards respectively and added a touchdown apiece.
Everything looked fine to start the game. The defense forced a three-and-out to open the game and, on the ensuing drive, the Badgers went 65 yards on three plays, including a 45-yard touchdown from Davis to give Wisconsin the early lead.
Michigan State would tie the game up midway through the first half, using a 42-yard run by Teague to set up a four-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Damon Dowdell to senior tight end Jason Knott.
The Spartans took the lead on the next Badger drive when they blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone.
Junior fullback Matt Bernstein tied the game again, running in from nine yards out, but that was the last time the Badgers would see the end zone.
The Badgers pinned the Spartans at their own one yard line later in the quarter, but could not keep them from driving the length of the field. Teague scored his second touchdown of the afternoon on a broken play that gave Michigan State the lead for good and broke the backs of the Wisconsin defense. Junior wideout Aaron Alexander appeared to be stopped for a loss behind the line of scrimmage before escaping the Wisconsin linemen and passing the ball to for a 30-yard touchdown pass that broke a 14-14 tie.
Michigan State was able to capitalize on the huge momentum swing by executing the onside kick to begin the second half. The Spartans went on to drive 54 yards mostly due to the legs of Caulcrick who broke a 31-yard run and also punched in a one yard touchdown run to give Michigan State a 28-14 lead.
""Today the most physical unit obviously wasn't wearing red and white,"" defensive coordinator Bret Bielema said.
The Badgers got another first-and-goal opportunity down 42-14 midway through the third quarter. After two incomplete passes and a five-yard run by Stocco, sophomore running back Booker Stanley got his chance on fourth-and-goal from the one, but could not capitalize.
The Spartans went 99 yards for the second time in the game on the ensuing drive to make it 49-14.
""To actually put up those kinda points on us, I was kinda mad, upset,"" junior linebacker Dontez Sanders said. ""I felt that just today our team, we didn't tackle well, we didn't play well as a group.""
The troubled defensive line was nowhere to be found during post-game interviews. The Badgers allowed four runs of 42 yards or more by four different players.
The Badgers were outplayed in every aspect of the game, causing them to lose their first game of the year and knocking them from fourth to ninth in the polls. They have a lot to play for next week at Iowa, but will need some help from Ohio State if they have any hope of winding up in Pasadena New Year's Day.
