Saturday afternoon was far from pretty. But given all Wisconsin has been through this season, the group will take a road win over Nebraska.
Relying on a familiar ground game and some timely plays on offense, the Badgers were able to eke out a 15-14 win over the Cornhuskers to notch their sixth win of the season and become bowl eligible for the 21st consecutive year.
BadgerBlitz.com offers key takeaways from the Badgers' win over Nebraska.
Wisconsin becomes bowl eligible
Wisconsin didn't take its first lead of the game until there were only 35 seconds left to go. All that matters for UW - at least for now - is the team squeaked out a 15-14 victory to get to six wins on the year and become bowl eligible.
It certainly won't gain any style points from the win. After losing a close friend to pile on what has been a taxing season, Wisconsin will extend its bowl streak and allow a young team to continue to gain valuable practice reps in December.
The victory didn't come without a real scare. After putting together a lengthy 14-play drive that resulted in a field goal, the defense was tagged with targeting and roughing the passer penalties on the following drive, which eventually led to a Nebraska touchdown.
Wisconsin found itself down 14-3 heading into the fourth quarter before putting together a pair of scoring drives, one that included a game-winning sneak from quarterback Graham Mertz.
Despite major issues to clean up, offense comes through when needed
Interim head coach Jim Leonhard is still the top candidate to be named the next head coach in Madison. But he'll have his hands in full turning around the offense.
With Chez Mellusi making his return, the offense was able to gain some traction running the ball. In total, the Badgers ran for 235 yards at a clip of 4.5 yards per carry. The team nearly had a pair of 100-yard rushers with Braelon Allen totaling 92 and Mellusi 98 yards.
For the third straight game, however, quarterback Graham Mertz and the passing attack could not muster any consistent success. Mertz made another questionable decision to look down field instead of Chimere Dike for a first down. The throw was picked off and set Nebraska up at the UW 37. The went down and scored eight plays later.
Over the last three games, Mertz has thrown for 112.0 yards per game, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Whoever leads the program for the next few seasons will have major questions of who to bring in as offensive assistants.
Let's give credit where credit is due. Down two scores in the fourth quarter, Wisconsin put together a 10- and a seven-play drive, both of which found the end zone. The rushing attack led the charge, but the throw from Mertz to Guerendo for 20 yards, a touchdown pass to Skyler Bell on a rope and quarterback sneak for the lead were game-changing plays for the Badgers.
Defense puts together another gem
Outside of a pair of 15-yard penalties on Nebraska's second scoring drive and an inability to create a turnover, the defensive unit was stellar once again.
Captain Keeanu Benton was the star of the game, tallying two tackles for loss to go with four tackles and a sack. Unheralded outside linebacker C.J. Goetz was solid all day as well with 2.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup and seven total tackles.
In all, the defense recorded three sacks and nine tackles for loss during an afternoon that it limited Nebraska to 171 yards and 3.5 yards per play.
Wisconsin improves to 4-2 under interim Jim Leonhard
Once again, it may not have been pretty. And even if Wisconsin came in favored by 10.5 points, the team has to be applauded for being able to make the necessary plays and come away with a much-needed victory in yet another tough week. The win improves the team's record under Leonhard to 4-2.
The decision at head coach was never going to come down to the record posted under Leonhard. The product on the field mattered far more, and a 4-2 mark with a group that is playing hard under Leonhard is as much as you could ask for.
"I have a lot of confidence in myself because of the people around me and we're not far off," Leonhard said in his post-game press conference. "There's things that will have to change to show improvement, but I'm proud of our guys - proud of the guys in the locker room. We have a lot of great players, a lot of guys who care and I think we got a little complacent.
"I've tried to shake that up a little bit, and to see the way the players respond gives me confidence I can get this done long term. I'm just proud of where this program has come in the last six games. We're not perfect and change will have to happen in order to take this program even further."
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