On Wisconsin.
The inaugural Big Ten championship game is one for the record books. Easily the best conference championship game of the year and it is not even close.
The Badgers won the coin toss and drove the ball 71 yards for a touchdown, courtesy of Russell Wilson to Jeff Duckworth. It was Duckworth’s first career touchdown reception and that was not even his biggest play of the game. Michigan State answered with a touchdown of their own, an eight yard run by Edwin Baker.
Spartan’s placekicker Dan Conroy kicked the the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff allowing the Badgers to start at their own 40. Wilson drove the offense 60 yards and Montee Ball capped it off with a six yard touchdown run.
Wisconsin caught a break when Conor O’Neill forced a fumble on the kick return that was covered by Jacob Pedersen. Michigan State return man Nick Hill attempted to squeeze through a couple of players but O’Neill clocked him, forcing the ball out. With the short field the Badgers moved 24 yards in 32 seconds to score another Ball rushing touchdown. With a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter things were looking good for Bret Bielema’s squad.
The Spartans moved hastily and drove 80 yards in a little over three minutes, scoring a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. The FOX commentators were quick to point out that the last time these two teams met, Michigan State went on a 22-0 run in the second quarter. No one in their right mind thought it could happen again.
The Badgers got another break when Conroy missed a 51 yard field goal attempt right before half but the damage was done as the Spartans capped off a 22-0 run to take a 29-21 lead into half time. Wisconsin’s defense was decimated and the offense was at a stalemate, going three and out four times while combining for a total of four yards on those drives. The only chance they had was to make some huge adjustments on defense and get creative on offense.
The Badgers forced the Spartans to go three and out on their first drive of the second half. Wisconsin turned the big defensive stop into seven points when Wilson, on third and 17, avoided a defender and threw a 42 yard bomb to Jared Abbrederis for a touchdown. Kirk Cousins responded with a 44 yard touchdown pass of his own to make the lead eight points once again.
With eight and a half minutes to go and the score 39-34 in favor of Michigan State, it was time for Wilson and the Badgers offense to have the drive of their lives. After clawing their way to the Spartans 43 yard line, destiny stared Wisconsin in the face.
Fourth and six with a Big Ten championship on the line, Wilson had to come up big. The ball was snapped, Wilson scrambled around in the backfield trying to avoid defenders and heaved the ball high in the air. Duckworth jumped over a Spartan defensive back and miraculously came down with the football. The 36 yard reception was Wisconsin’s version of Michigan State’s amazing Hail Mary. On the very next play Ball rushed seven yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Badgers took a three-point lead after the completed two-point conversion.
Michigan State had three minutes and forty-five seconds to force overtime or win the game. An incomplete pass, two yard rush and incomplete pass was all they could muster. With two timeouts, the Spartans were forced to punt in hopes of having their overpowering defense get them one last stop.
Wisconsin ran the ball three consecutive times without recording a first down and lined up to punt. The snap was good, the kick was good, Isaiah Lewis running into the kicker was not. The penalty gave the Badgers a first down, a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl berth for the second consecutive year.
Notes: Russell Wilson went 17 for 24, passing for 187 yards and three touchdowns. He was named the game’s MVP. Montee Ball gained 137 yards on 27 carries with four total touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving). He also completed a 32 yard pass to Wilson. Ball is second all-time behind Barry Sanders with 38 total touchdowns.
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a game for the ages.