The Wisconsin Badgers suffered an embarrassing 24-21 loss to the Maryland Terrapins for the second year in a row, once again raising questions about Luke Fickell and the direction of the program after the 31-10 win over Rutgers last weekend.
Wisconsin entered the week on a strong note, as they had dominated Rutgers in true freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins’s first start last weekend. They came into the game as 8.5-point favorites and were still in the mix in the Big Ten race with a 6-3 record and 4-2
conference record.
However, just like last weekend, the Badgers suffered a surprising loss. A season ago, Wisconsin was embarrassed 27-10 on their own home field, which sparked a six-game losing streak. This season, it was a 24-21 loss to one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this season.
Wisconsin opened the game on a high note, forcing a quick three-and-out on the first set of plays, while responding with a five-play, 57-yard touchdown drive. The Badgers got great field position and took advantage with a 21-yard Jaylon Domingeaux catch, a pass interference call, and a 17-yard Darrion Dupree run, leading to a four-yard touchdown run on the next play.
The Badgers allowed one first down on their next set of plays, but quickly forced a punt again and seemed to be picking up where they left off a week ago. But on 4th & 1 at their own 39-yard line, they decided to go for it with a fullback dive, and Ryan Schwendeman fumbled. Clearly, the Badgers didn’t feel like a quarterback sneak was an option, and there was the lane to convert, but the fumble gave Maryland great field position.
Credit goes to the defense, though, who got help from the Terrapins with two false starts to force a quick three-and-out and get the ball back on a punt, albeit at Wisconsin’s own 1-yard line. The Badgers went to Bryan Jackson twice, getting nothing, before a short pass on fourth down forced them to punt deep in their own territory.
Once again, Maryland got great field position, even with a penalty at the end of the punt, starting at their own 47-yard line. But the defense was stellar again, as it had been throughout the first quarter, and Maryland opened the second quarter with a missed 51-yard field goal.
Finally, the offense got some rhythm. Abu Sama, who was nowhere to be found in the first quarter, ripped an 18-yard run on his first touch, and Darrion Dupree followed that up with eight and 11-yard runs later in the drive to set up two more first downs. The Badgers got themselves in the red zone, but what has killed them all season hurt them again: a negative play on first down. That ended up derailing the drive, and they were forced to settle for a field goal.
Midway through the second quarter, the defense had their worst drive of the game so far. Without a pass rush affecting the quarterback, Cardell Williams ripped off six straight completions before a quarterback keeper for one yard ended up in the end zone. Suddenly, a game where the Badgers defense had dominated through the first 20+ minutes was 10-7 with three minutes left in the half.
Wisconsin went nowhere on its next drive, as Sama got just two yards before an incompletion and a sack on second and third down. So, the Badgers quickly punted, and Maryland got a great opportunity to tie the game up before halftime.
Once again, it was a ton of Cardell Williams, both with his arms and his legs, as Maryland’s backup quarterback moved the ball down the field in the two-minute drill. Starting at Wisconsin’s 40-yard line, the Terrapins had four rushes and two passes, getting all the way down to the one-yard line. But Matt Jung and Mason Posa forced a huge fumble on a one-yard carry, recovering the ball before halftime and saving a touchdown. Unfortunately, Jung was carted off with a leg injury, needing a cast on his foot.
The Badgers started with the ball in the second half, but their offense remained lifeless with another three-and-out, starting with a negative play. It really felt at this point that Jeff Grimes had no faith in his quarterback. The Badgers went screen (for -1), run (for five), and screen (for -2) for a three-and-out.
The defense bounced back from two shaky drives with a quick three-and-out, but the Badgers coughed it up immediately. After a first down drop, Darrion Dupree took the second-down handoff and fumbled after no gain, with Maryland recovering and returning it to the Wisconsin 16-yard line.
Four runs later, the Terrapins were in the end zone with a surprise 14-13 lead. Now, there was still a ton of ball game left, but Wisconsin’s offense looked shattered, and they needed a turnaround fast with injuries piling up on the defensive side.
And it didn’t look good at first. The Badgers got no gain on first down, one yard on a second-down screen, and nothing on third down for a quick three-and-out. But Sean West was roughed on the punt, giving Wisconsin a free 15 yards. That, plus an unsportsmanlike conduct, took the Badgers from their own 31 to the Maryland 39.
From there, Wisconsin went with five straight dropbacks, completing just one for 15 yards, which set up an easier field goal for Gavin Lahm from 41 yards, cutting the lead to 14-13.
Maryland’s next drive was instantly killed by a false start and a holding penalty on the first two plays, and they quickly punted, with the Badgers getting the ball at their own 43-yard line.
Well, Wisconsin finally started to get a rhythm and consistently move the ball, with Ryan Hopkins having a couple of nice scrambles and Jeff Grimes mixing in an end around. The Badgers quickly moved into the red zone after a 28-yard Hopkins run and, two plays later, punched it in from the one-yard line for a Darrion Dupree touchdown.
Despite how poorly their offense had played, the Badgers were back on top, and they went for two to make it 21-14 at the top of the fourth quarter.
Maryland’s offense was able to move a bit on its next drive, thanks to a 13-yard run from DeJuan Williams on 4th & 1 and a 15-yard penalty on backup safety Matthew Traynor, but its own holding penalty killed a very promising drive, as they punted in plus territory once again.
With 8:43 left, the Badgers started with the ball on their own 10-yard line. This felt like the perfect time for them to kill clock and start to move the ball a bit offensively. They didn’t get a single yard, punting in less than a minute, and Maryland was in position to tie things up with 7:45 left.
Well, penalties were the Terrapins’ Achilles ‘ heel. As their run game started to get going and they advanced to the Wisconsin 35-yard line, another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty came. Maryland didn’t recover and, once again, punted in plus territory.
With 4:29 left on their own 20-yard line, could this be the drive for the Badgers to seal the deal? Darrion Dupree got five on the first play, but was stuffed on 2nd & 5. Then Ryan Hopkins fumbled a third-down snap, sending the Badgers back and forcing their fifth three-and-out of the game. Sean West’s punt went just 35 yards to midfield, which the Terrapins returned to the Wisconsin 39.
One play later, the score was tied, as Cardell Williams hit Preston Howard for a 39-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Wisconsin had a ton of opportunities to close the game, and they never capitalized. But the game wasn’t over, as the Badgers had the ball with 2:11 left and all their timeouts.
Things started great as Darrion Dupree took a screen 15 yards to get the Badgers a 1st & 10 at their own 40 at the 2-minute warning. Well, disaster struck after that, as Ryan Hopkins didn’t identify a free rusher and was crushed by the blitzer, fumbling and getting hurt in the process.
So Maryland had the ball on the Wisconsin 33-yard line, needing just a field goal to take the lead. They ran the ball six times, getting one first down before kicking a field goal on 4th & 1 at Wisconsin’s 12, securing the 24-21 lead.
The Badgers had just 29 seconds left with no timeouts and Colton Joseph in the game off the bench. Joseph committed an illegal forward pass on his first play, essentially sealing the game for the Badgers, and Wisconsin would go on to suffer its fourth loss of the season.
This was an ugly one for the Badgers. The offense compiled just 201 total yards, going 2 of 12 on third downs, as Ryan Hopkins had a rough day, averaging 3.5 yards per pass. They also committed three turnovers, gifting Maryland some great field position.
Defensively, the Badgers played well enough to win. They stopped the run, and the Terrapins went 2 of 13 on third downs. But they allowed Cardell Williams to get too comfortable in the pocket, marking the third time this year they’ve done that to a backup quarterback (Iowa, UCLA).
This is an embarrassing loss for the Badgers and one that requires some deep thinking about the direction of the program with how inconsistent this team has been over the past few weeks.
