Last year, the Wildcats pulled off a huge win at Camp Randall Stadium as the Badgers fell short in the redzone at the end of the game. Peavy caught a pass in the endzone with 24 seconds left that was initially ruled a touchdown but overturned after review, a controversial call that he refused to forget.
“It was just in the back of my mind, just always one of those things where I just really wanted to beat this team, and I’m glad we got to do that,” Peavy said.
It was a team win as Wisconsin’s defense held Northwestern to just seven points, but Peavy was the spark plug for the offense, leading the way with 119 yards from scrimmage.
All four of his catches picked up first downs, as he gathered 73 yards through the air, but his biggest play of the game came on the ground. Peavy took a wide receiver reverse handoff in the second quarter 46 yards for the Badgers’ first touchdown of the game.
“When I got the ball, I turned the corner and I saw a lot of green grass,” Peavy said. “I saw a couple of guys upfield blocking, so I knew it was one of those things where there might be a cut-back lane, and I saw it.”
The reverse handoff was different than the end-around “jet sweeps” Wisconsin has run frequently this season. On their usual play call, the receiver comes in motion pre-snap and the quarterback hands it to him immediately after the snap.
On this run, the Badgers faked a handoff to the running back and Peavy came to the backfield after the snap, creating effective misdirection as the defense followed the back instead of the ball, allowing Peavy to break into the open field.
It’s a different approach for the receiver as he starts further in the backfield and comes at more of a downfield angle, allowing him to see the field in front of him more than he can on the end-around.
“You just have a little bit more time to read, just because you are making that kind of loop, so you can kind of see it all playing out in front of you,” Peavy said. “So it’s a lot easier to make adjustments off of it.”
He made a big adjustment 15-yards downfield, cutting across the middle and working off of his teammates’ downfield blocks to find daylight and then the promised land.
“It brought a lot of energy to us,” redshirt freshman running back Bradrick Shaw said. “It was exciting, and that kind of got us going on offense, so it was a great deal for him to get that.”
It was a smart play and a huge run by a receiver who was looking for revenge against the team that robbed him of a game-winning touchdown a year ago. This time, Peavy got the last laugh.
