For the first five and a half minutes of the game, the Illinois Fighting Illini (2-5 Big Ten, 3-7 overall) were right in it against the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers (5-2, 8-2). Then UW scored touchdowns on four-straight drives and cruised to a 48-3 win on homecoming night.
The game was more-or-less decided by halftime as Wisconsin went to the locker room with a 31-3 lead. Illinois redshirt freshman quarterback Jeff George Jr. had five passes caught by Illini receivers and four passes caught by Badger defenders in the first half, and redshirt senior backup Wes Lunt replaced him in the second half and didn’t fare much better.
The Badgers were able to run the ball early and often as they took the ball out of their quarterbacks’ hands and let senior running back Corey Clement and redshirt senior Dare Ogunbowale took over, who rushed for over 100 yards each in impressive fashion.
Wisconsin’s defense was as stout as ever. They gave up a few more long runs than they would have liked, but kept Illinois out of the end zone in large part thanks to all of the turnovers.
This was about as steady a victory as the Badgers could have asked for as they continue on their path toward a potential Big Ten Championship game appearance. The road to Indianapolis continues in West LaFayette, Ind., next week as Wisconsin travels to take on Purdue.
