Corey Clement
Despite allowing a pair of late touchdowns, the Wisconsin Badgers notched a 38-28 win over Illinois in the Badgers Big Ten home opener at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.
Wisconsin (4-2, 1-1 Big Ten) moves into its second and final bye week of the season and will return to Camp Randall on Oct. 25 to host Maryland. The Terrapins (4-2, 1-1) will host Iowa (5-1, 2-0) on Saturday.
Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen said he wants to continue to use two quarterbacks moving forward. Joel Stave started Saturday and completed 7 of 14 passes for 73 yards. McEvoy was given only one series, completing 3 of 4 for 24 yards and rushed once for 12 yards.
It’ll be interesting moving forward to see if McEvoy gets more time at wide receiver, if his quarterback reps continue to be limited.
Melvin Gordon started the day with 871 rushing yards. He soon became the first Wisconsin running back to break the 1,000-yard mark in only six games when he rushed for 146 yards in the first half. Gordon finished with 175 yards and four touchdowns on 27 carries, giving him 1,046 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Sophomore running mate Corey Clement racked up 164 yards and a touchdown to give the Badgers 401 yards on the ground as a team.
Illinois started the day ranked 119th nationally in rush defense, allowing 249.5 yards a game.
Illinois coach Tim Beckman saw his Big Ten record fall to 1-18.
The Badger defense recorded a season-high six sacks. After giving up a pair of early scores, the Badgers held Illinois without points for seven straight series before Illinois’ backup quarterback Aaron Bailey led the Illini to a pair of late touchdowns.
AUDIO: Gary Andersen says they were more functional on offense :22
AUDIO: Joel Stave on the difference between this week and last :13
AUDIO: Vince Biegel said the bye comes at a great time :15