Head coach Paul Chryst's Wisconsin Badgers came into The Big House on Saturday night and thoroughly dominated the Michigan Wolverines from the opening minutes until the clock hit zero, posting a 49-11 win.
The Badgers had two weeks to game plan for U-M, though they had two weeks of practice off due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the program. Despite the uniqueness of the past 21 days, Chryst said his team was confident coming in that it would have success against U-M, who fell to 1-3 on the season.
"We certainly had enough things we thought would fit well against Michigan," said Chryst, who saw his team out-gain the Wolverines 468-219 in total yardage. "It enabled our guys to go play fast."
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There wasn't much that didn't work — in any phase — for the Badgers, who continued hammer away and stick with plays that worked — over and over. That included getting their wide receivers on the edge on jet sweeps. Three wideouts rushed for a combined 105 yards, 65 of which came from senior Danny Davis, who also scored a four-yard touchdown.
"I really thought the offensive staff did a heck of a job putting together a package that fit what we do and our guys and using all of our guys, but also it was good against the way we anticipated them playing," Chryst said. "I thought it was important, and we needed that.
"It’s nice to be able to run the ball. We ran it fairly consistently and, to get a lot of production from a number of different guys, that’s always fun.
"I saw [the jet sweeps] working. ... But the way they were fitting it and going with it, we were able to keep going back [to it]."
The biggest storyline the entire week was the status of Badgers' redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz, who missed 21 days of team activities after testing positive for the coronavirus. Whether or not he would play was unknown until late in the week.
While Mertz was adequate, completing 12-of-22 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns, it was the aforementioned success running the ball that carried the Badgers offensively. Chryst still lauded his signal-caller's play.
"I thought he did some good things today, and on a number of those, he worked through progressions and found guys," Chryst said. "He had good poise. I think what he had and the amount of time he had, it was a good job of coming back. Obviously, he had help. I thought he was good tonight."
Defensively, Wisconsin started fast, forcing turnovers on U-M's first two possessions. In fact, Wolverines' redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton threw picks on his first two tosses. Milton finished the night 9-for-19 for 98 yards.
Chryst said it was crucial to force takeaways and make big plays early, specifically pointing to when his defense stopped Milton on fourth-and-goal quarterback keeper from the one-yard line.
"It’s huge," Chryst said of the fast start. "... The big goal-line stop. I think that was fifth-year senior defensive tackle Isaiah [Loudermilk]; that was a heck of a play.
"I thought guys were into it, guys were playing and I loved how we kind of complemented each other. I think this team cares about each other, and they all want to find their way to contribute, and we had a lot of contribution."
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