A few days have passed since the Wisconsin Badgers fell to the now-No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship game. However, UW (10-3) found itself in a third New Year's Six Bowl in four seasons when it was announced that head coach Paul Chryst and his program would play No. 6 Oregon (11-2) in the 106th edition of the Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1.
BadgerBlitz.com will provide much more coverage of "The Granddaddy of Them All" in the coming weeks, but for now, editor/recruiting analyst Jon McNamara, senior writer Jake Kocorowski and staff writer Asher Low convened to discuss what transpired the first 13 games of the 2019 season.
Below is the second of a handful of questions answered that will be published in the coming days. Be sure to check out the previous roundtable discussions as well
What was the highest point of the 2019 regular season?
McNamara: Wisconsin's win against Minnesota to close the regular season was one of the most satisfying victories of the entire decade for the Badgers. But for the sake of over repetition, I'll go with UW's thumping of Michigan earlier in the season. The Wolverines were the hot team during Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, and many felt it was finally their turn to emerge from the East.
Wisconsin made sure that didn't happen.
The Badgers started off with two touchdowns runs by Jonathan Taylor, followed by two more scores from quarterback Jack Coan on the ground. When fullback John Chenal found the end-zone in the third quarter, Jim Harbaugh's team was down 35-0 in an absolute beatdown that ended, 35-14, in favor of UW.
This was type of win that made the older generation(s) of Wisconsin fans smile from ear to ear. There was a time when Michigan was king, but that certainly wasn't the case on Sept. 21 in Madison.
Kocorowski: I think it comes against Minnesota. Every ESPN College GameDay picker chose the Gophers. The hype around Minneapolis felt huge, and after the first offensive possession for P.J. Fleck’s resulted in a 51-yard touchdown, perhaps the rout was on.
It was not.
From the second quarter on, Wisconsin dominated Minnesota with a barrage of offensive looks, stretching the Gophers’ defense with a 280-yard passing day from Jack Coan while utilizing some tricks out of the playbook, both new and old. Special teams came through with Zach Hintze’s field goal and five extra points, while a 49-yard return off a reverse reclaimed any momentum Minnesota gained in making the contest a one-possession affair in the third quarter. The defense eventually clamped down and got to quarterback Tanner Morgan in a key stretch that allowed UW to jump to a four-touchdown score and garbage time in the second half.
The chopping of the Paul Bunyan’s Axe by the players inside the pseudo snow-globe of TCF Bank Stadium felt cathartic for what went down in 2018 and earlier this season.
Low: The Minnesota game was undoubtedly the high point of this year. Every single narrative about this season was defined by the result of that game, and as Jake mentioned, it began with the type of big play that Wisconsin’s defense had been susceptible to in past weeks.
After that 51-yard score, Wisconsin imposed its will and showed which program had the type of experience to win a game of that magnitude. The victory was a result of big plays from every single area of this team. The Badgers held strong following the opening score and, eventually, Jonathan Taylor got the offense going with a back-peddling touchdown off a wheel route. P.J. Fleck claimed post-game that these two were co-Big Ten West champs, but it was the Wisconsin Badgers that found themselves under the bright lights of Lucas Oil Stadium a week later.
