Three takeaways from Wisconsin's 24-13 win over Rutgers

MADISON - In the second conference game of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers took care of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 24-13.

In their first game after the bye week, Wisconsin hosted a Greg Schiano-led Rutgers team that entered 4-1 with an elite running back and defense. The Badgers jumped out to a 17-0 lead by the end of the first half, then fended off a comeback attempt, ending the game with a two-possession victory.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from today’s win.

The first half was almost over. It had been a game with little offense and countless punts. Every first down felt substantial. On the prior drive, Braelon Allen scored the first touchdown of the game, extending Wisconsin’s lead to 10-0.

The Scarlet Knights responded with their first truly successful drive. They were on the ninth play of a series that started on their 25, taking up the last four-and-a-half minutes of the half. Gavin Wimsatt carried the offense down the field, highlighted by a 17-yard keeper to put them inside the 10.

From the 5-yard-line, Wimsatt saw Christian Dremel open on the right sideline, but mistakenly threw it too far toward his outside shoulder, where Ricardo Hallman was ready and waiting. He cut Dremel off and snatched it out of the air, before running it back for a 95-yard pick-six.

Instead of letting Rutgers cut their deficit to three, Wisconsin extended their lead to 17. It gave the Badgers a three-possession lead in a game where offensive success was a rarity.

“Rico comes up with not only a huge pick, a great play, but then he takes it to the house with four seconds left to go in the half,” Luke Fickell said after the game.

“There were some things that happened in the second half, but there’s no doubt, that’s the difference in the ball game.”

It was Wisconsin’s biggest single play of the season — both in terms of yardage and impact. It didn’t come from Allen, Tanner Mordecai or any player on offense. It was the 5-foot-9 cornerback in his first full season starting. Hallman now has four picks in his last three games. More than that, he’s become a fixture for every opposing offensive coordinator from here on out.

The major question for Wisconsin’s offense heading into Saturday was how it would deal with the loss of Chez Mellusi. Allen stepped back into the dominant role that he’s known the past two seasons, but they also leaned on Jackson Acker, who played as if he’d been waiting for this opportunity.

Acker didn’t see the field until the end of the first quarter, but once he got some consistent carries, he looked possessed. He dominated Wisconsin’s first drive of the second quarter, ending up with the ball on five of the nine plays.

The redshirt sophomore rushed four times for 33 yards, caught a check down for six yards and took Wisconsin inside the Rutgers 10-yard-line. He wasn’t able to finish things off, as Allen fumbled, but that drive alone was enough to justify his role in the offense moving forward.

More importantly than any stats or single plays, Acker looked nothing like a third-stringer. He ran with an incredible combination of speed, power and toughness, knocking Scarlet Knights down to the ground all game long.

“The first run, I didn’t even realize it was Jackson, I thought it was Braelon,” Will Pauling said after the game.

“Honestly, it wasn’t a surprise to me, because I know that room is so talented. Once I saw Jackson balling out, I knew he was ready.”

Acker wasn’t able to match the sheer impact of his first drive in his later outings, but still ended with 65 yards on five yards per carry. More importantly, he showed the coaching staff why he’s perfectly capable of running alongside Allen and is deserving of more involvement.

Rutgers’ offensive problems can be boiled down to the fact that they couldn’t lean on its identity. Kyle Monangai entered as one of the most productive running backs in the Big Ten, sitting near the top of the conference in yards and touchdowns. He was pretty much non-existent, finishing with just eight rushes for 16 yards.

“All the emphasis these past two weeks was to stop the run. Get penetration, knock them back, stay disciplined,” said James Thompson Jr.

“This is a very heavy run-focused team… If we stop the run, we win the game.”

The disappearance of Monangai essentially killed their offense. Of their first eight drives, seven ended in punts and five of those were three-and-outs. The only non-punt drive ended with Hallman’s interception.

Wimsatt became their only hope. He did all that he could, running around enough to become their leading rusher, ending with 43 yards on 4.3 yards per carry. He made a few nice passes, but simply isn’t the kind of player who you can expect to lead a comeback.

The front seven stopped the run and neutralized the Rutgers offense, but the secondary deserves their credit, too. Hallman obviously had the big play, but nickelback Jason Maitre stuck by his man all day and made a few eye-grabbing tackles.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook