It is back to the drawing board for the 16th ranked Wisconsin Badgers today, following their shocking 24-21 loss to the BYU Cougars on Saturday.
BYU was a three touchdown underdog, yet outplayed Wisconsin, handing the Badgers their first non-conference home loss at Camp Randall Stadium dating back to 2003.
To make matters worse, the Badgers lost outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and tight end Zander Neuville with leg injuries in the first half.
The Cougars attacked the Badger defense with a number of jet sweeps, which opened up the running game for BYU tailback Squally Canada. He rushed for 118 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns.
BYU freshman Skyler Southam booted the game winning field goal from 45-yards out with 9:58 left to play. The Badgers had a chance to tie but Rafael Gaglianone missed from 42-yards out with :36 left to play.
Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor came in averaging 7.8 yards a carry and 199.0 yards per game rushing. He finished with 117 yards on 26 carries and a 4.5 yards per carry average. His longest carry went for 15 yards.
The Badgers three touchdowns all came on short runs. Taiwan Deal scored twice, from two yards and five yards out. Fullback Alec Ingold scored from two yards out.
The loss dropped the Badgers in both Top 25 polls, from 6th to 16th in the coaches poll and from 6th to 18th in the writers poll.
Wisconsin must now regroup quickly. The Badgers open Big Ten play this Saturday night in Iowa City against the Hawkeyes.
