The Wisconsin Badger football team moved a step closer to the Big Ten West Division title, knocking off Illinois 24-10 on Saturday. While the Badgers improved to 8-0 on the season and remain the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten, they once again gave no impression that they are ready to compete against other top teams in the conference (Ohio State & Penn State), or nationally for that matter either.
Wisconsin freshman tailback Jonathan Taylor left in the first half with a left leg injury. He had carried 12 times for 73 yards before heading to the sidelines for the rest of the game.
Without Taylor, the Badgers finished with 168 rushing yards on 45 carries, their second lowest total of the season. Taylor himself, averages 168.5 yards a game.
Without Taylor, walk-on Garrett Groshek rushed 12 times for 51 yards and a touchdown and Bradrick Shaw added 40 yards on 12 carries.
One of the Badgers scores came on left tackle Michael Deiter’s four-yard touchdown reception.
This Wisconsin victory lacked style points for certain. They have yet to beat a ranked team. In spite of that, the Badgers find themselves ranked number-4 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Amway Top 25 coaches poll.
We’ll see where the Badgers land when the initial College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday.
The players say the rankings won’t mean a thing and they’re not apologizing for an average at best performance.
The Badgers will take their perfect record (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) to Bloomington, Indiana this Saturday to face the Hoosiers.