Rivalry? Wisconsin has dominated Nebraska with a punishing ground game
MADISON – Saturday marks the 12th meeting between Wisconsin and Nebraska since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten for the 2011 football season.
Rivalry?
UW has won 10 of the 11 meetings, with six of the victories by double digits.
The No. 1 reason behind the 10-1 record: UW has run the ball down the Cornhuskers’ throats for more than 3,000 yards.
UW has had nine games of at least 200 yards rushing, five of at least 300, two of at least 500 and one – just one – of less than 100.
That came in the 2012 Big Ten opener when UW was still adjusting to a change in offensive line coaches and the Cornhuskers limited Bret Bielema’s team to 56 yards on 41 carries in a 30-27 victory.
Of course, a little more than two months later UW put up more than 500 yards rushing on the Cornhuskers in the 2012 Big Ten title game.
Here is a look back at some of the more memorable games since 2011.
Melvin Gordon...408 yards rushing
Can you imagine how many rushing yards Melvin Gordon could have had if he had played the fourth quarter when the teams met in 2014 at Camp Randall Stadium?
Gordon broke LaDainian Tomlinson’s NCAA single-game rushing mark of 406 yards by running 25 times for 408 yards and four touchdowns in UW’s 59-24 victory.
He started slowly and finished the opening quarter with 49 yards on six carries, 8.2 yards per carry, and two lost fumbles.
Gordon then rushed 10 times for 189 yards, 18.9 yards per carry, and a touchdown in the second quarter to help UW take a 24-17 lead.
Gordon then rushed nine times for 170 yards, 18.9 yards per carry, and three touchdowns in the third quarter.
He broke Tomlinson’s mark, set against UTEP in 1999, with a 26-yard touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter.
Tomlinson needed 43 carries, 18 more than Gordon, to hit 406 yards.
Consider that when Gordon took the field that November afternoon, Ron Dayne held UW’s single-game rushing mark with 339. Dayne set that mark in 1996 at Hawaii.
Gordon had a combined 359 yards in the second and third quarters against the Cornhuskers.
Analyst Chris Spielman, with “Melvin Gordon” chants booming from the stands, captured the moment.
“To me, as a player, when you know a team is pounding the football on you,” Spielman said, “and no matter what you call or what you do, there’s nothing you can do to stop it, that’s embarrassing for a football player. That’s humiliating.
“And Melvin Gordon has made the most of his opportunity.”
Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball and James White help the Badgers run all the way to Pasadena
UW and Nebraska met in the 2012 Big Ten title game with a Rose Bowl berth on the line.
The game came a little more than two months after Nebraska contained UW's ground game and rallied for a 30-27 victory in the league opener.
The rematch featured a UW offensive line that had grown stronger since Bart Miller took over the unit and Gordon, Montee Ball and James White combined to rush for 527 yards and eight touchdowns in a 70-31 victory.
Gordon rushed nine times for 216 yards, 24.0 per carry, and one score; Ball rushed 21 times for 202 yards, 9.6 per carry, and three scores; White rushed 15 times for 109 yards, 7.3 per carry, and four touchdowns. He also had a 3-yard touchdown pass.
“We failed,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said after the loss. “We failed to win a championship and that was the goal coming in and we didn’t get it done.”
Russell Wilson and his new teammates give Nebraska a rude welcome to the Big Ten
UW was ranked No. 7 and Nebraska was No. 8 when the teams opened league play on Oct. 1 in Madison in 2011.
Nebraska held leads of 7-0 and 14-7 in the first half, but Russell Wilson and his receivers and Ball helped the Badgers roll to a 48-17 victory.
Wilson, a transfer from North Carolina State, completed 14 of 20 passes for 255 yards and two scores and rushed for another score.
Ball rushed 30 times for 151 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receivers Nick Toon and Jared Abbrederis and tight end Jacob Pedersen combined for 12 catches for 238 yards and two scores.
Rafael Gaglianone misses once, but not twice
Paul Chryst was in his first season as UW’s head coach when the Badgers traveled to Lincoln on Oct. 10, 2015.
UW was 0-1 in the league and 3-2 overall and appeared headed to a second consecutive loss after Rafael Gaglianone missed right on a 39-yard field-goal attempt with 1 minute 26 seconds left in the game.
Holding a 21-20 lead and starting from their 21, the Cornhuskers managed runs of 3, 0 and 2 yards and had to punt.
UW used all three of its timeouts and took over at its 27 after a 47-yard punt.
Joel Stave completed passes of 7, 12 and 23 yards to put the ball at the Nebraska 28, and two plays later Gaglianone drilled a 48-yard attempt to give UW a 23-21 lead with four seconds left.
When Leo Musso recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, UW had an important victory. The loss was the fourth of the season for Nebraska, by a combined 11 points.
“Biting your nails, that was crazy,” Gaglianone said when asked about the final few minutes. “So unbelievable. I’m thankful for my teammates giving me that second chance.”
Paul Chryst decides to run, run, run
Jonathan Taylor was a freshman in 2017 when the teams met in Lincoln.
When Alex Hornibrook threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, Nebraska had battled back to forge a 17-17 tie with 10:43 left in the third quarter.
UW then turned to its ground game to score touchdowns on the next three possessions for a 38-17 lead.
All three drives lasted 10 plays. Hornibrook found Quintez Cephus for gains of 31 and 5 yards on the first drive but the other 28 plays were runs.
UW gained 177 yards on those 28 runs, an average of 6.3 per carry.
Taylor finished with 249 yards and two scores on 25 carries; Rachid Ibrahim added 51 yards on seven carries; and Bradrick Shaw added 43 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries as UW rolled up 353 yards on 49 carries.
“As an offensive lineman, that is what you dream of,” left tackle Michael Deiter said. “Not having to drop back and pass, it’s a lot of fun.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's ground game has rolled over Nebraska through the years
