MADISON -- Wisconsin cruised to a 48-0 shutout win on a rainy, brisk afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium. While it's hard to take too much away from an expected, dominant win over a lesser opponent, what the blowout does provide is some impressive stats about just how impressive UW was on Saturday.
BadgerBlitz.com's "Stat Pack" series takes a statistical look at how Wisconsin controlled things against Kent State.
Did Somebody Say Heisman?
Jonathan Taylor was at it again on Saturday morning in about as impressive of a first half as any running back can put together. Wisconsin's first five drives all ended in the junior standout finding his way into the end zone -- four times on the ground and once through the air.
To put into perspective just how much more effective Taylor was than the entirety of the Golden Flashes offense, the Heisman Trophy hopeful finished the first half with four total scores, while Kent State finished with two first downs.
No, I didn't mean touchdowns. UW was just that dominant led by Taylor.
Zeroes Across the Board
In its three non-conference games, the Badgers' defense has been nothing short of spectacular. During the trio of contests, UW has allowed a grand total of zero points to the likes of USF, Central Michigan and Kent State.
How about a fun stat to go along with that defensive dominance? Through those three games, UW has allowed 101 total rushing yards. In the first half today alone, Taylor had 134 yards on the ground.
That is controlling the ground game.
Who Wants a Carry?
Wisconsin registered a season-high 12 different Badgers ran the football during Saturday's win. Highlights from those dozen different ball carriers were Madison native Jack Dunn recording his first career touchdown, and six rushes combined from fullbacks Mason Stokke and John Chenal. Yes, fullback dives should be considered highlights especially when talking about Wisconsin football.
Don't expect the plethora of rushers to continue, but it was nice to see head coach Paul Chryst be able to get so many guys touches in a blowout win.
Vegas, Baby!
The Badgers improved to an impressive 4-1 against the oddsmakers at the Action Network. This is especially notable considering that UW has covered both 30-plus point spreads at home, the first being against Central Michigan and the second coming on Saturday.
The lone time that Wisconsin was unable to cover the spread was last week's win over Northwestern.
