Badgers take advantage of muffed punt to avoid upset in season opener
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin may have beaten.
Dont let the scoreboard Western Michigan 28-14 on.
fool you. Wisconsin may Friday, however it was.
have beaten Western Michigan anything but a comfortable.
28-14 on Friday, however victory. The Badgers capitalized.
it was anything but on a muffed punt.
a comfortable victory. The to reverse a one-point.
Badgers capitalized on a deficit in the fourth.
muffed punt to reverse quarter. Tyler Van Dyke.
a one-point deficit in completed 21 of his.
the fourth quarter. Tyler 36 passes for 192.
Van Dyke completed 21 yards in his Wisconsin.
of his 36 passes debut and rushed for.
for 192 yards in a touchdown. He also.
his Wisconsin debut and lost a fumble. Chez.
rushed for a touchdown. Mellusi and Tawee Walker.
He also lost a tallied one rushing touchdown.
fumble. Chez Mellusi and each, and combined for.
Tawee Walker tallied one 140 rushing yards. Will.
rushing touchdown each, and Pauling led the Wisconsin.
combined for 140 rushing receiving corps with 6.
yards. Will Pauling led catches for 60 yards..
the Wisconsin receiving corps The Badgers were able.
with 6 catches for to find early success.
60 yards. The Badgers without having to take.
were able to find big risks. Mellusi and.
early success without having Walker found short-but-solid gains.
to take big risks. on the ground, while.
Mellusi and Walker found Van Dyke relied on.
short-but-solid gains on the short passes when moving.
ground, while Van Dyke the ball through the.
relied on short passes air. However, Wisconsins first.
when moving the ball drive of the game.
through the air. However, stalled at the edge.
Wisconsins first drive of of the red zone.
the game stalled at and Nathanial Vakos 36-yard.
the edge of the field goal was pushed.
red zone and Nathanial well wide. The miss.
Vakos 36-yard field goal meant that the Badgers.
was pushed well wide. went scoreless in the.
The miss meant that first quarter of the.
the Badgers went scoreless season opener for the.
in the first quarter first time since 2021..
of the season opener The Camp Randall faithful.
for the first time would not have to.
since 2021. The Camp wait too long to.
Randall faithful would not see their team find.
have to wait too paydirt, however. Wisconsins second.
long to see their drive went for 93.
team find paydirt, however. yards, capped off by.
Wisconsins second drive went a 9-yard touchdown carry.
for 93 yards, capped from Mellusi with 11:48.
off by a 9-yard left in the half..
touchdown carry from Mellusi Just like in their.
with 11:48 left in opening drive, the Badgers.
the half. Just like got their gains in.
in their opening drive, short spurts. Cade Yacamelli.
the Badgers got their and Mellusi picked up.
gains in short spurts. solid chunks with the.
Cade Yacamelli and Mellusi running game while Van.
picked up solid chunks Dykes longest pass went.
with the running game for just 10 yards..
while Van Dykes longest Wisconsin was also helped.
pass went for just by a targeting call.
10 yards. Wisconsin was against Broncos linebacker Jacob.
also helped by a Wahlberg, who was ejected..
targeting call against Broncos After punting on their.
linebacker Jacob Wahlberg, who first two drives, Western.
was ejected. After punting Michigan finally got rolling.
on their first two following the Wisconsin touchdown..
drives, Western Michigan finally The Broncos used a.
got rolling following the speedy no-huddle offense to.
Wisconsin touchdown. The Broncos gallop downfield, with quarterback.
used a speedy no-huddle Hayden Wolff finding Jaden.
offense to gallop downfield, Nixon and Jalen Buckley.
with quarterback Hayden Wolff for strong gains. Nixon.
finding Jaden Nixon and and Buckley caused problems.
Jalen Buckley for strong for the Badgers on.
gains. Nixon and Buckley the ground as well,.
caused problems for the as they helped march.
Badgers on the ground their team all the.
as well, as they way up to the.
helped march their team goal line. Wisconsin almost.
all the way up found the answer when.
to the goal line. it mattered most, making.
Wisconsin almost found the three consecutive goal line.
answer when it mattered stands, but fourth time.
most, making three consecutive proved the charm as.
goal line stands, but Buckley pushed through the.
fourth time proved the line for the game-tying.
charm as Buckley pushed touchdown. Wisconsin got the.
through the line for ball back with about.
the game-tying touchdown. Wisconsin 3 minutes left in.
got the ball back the half, looking to.
with about 3 minutes take some momentum into.
left in the half, the locker room. After.
looking to take some Walker tallied 4 consecutive.
momentum into the locker carries for 23 total.
room. After Walker tallied yards, Van Dyke was.
4 consecutive carries for given the reigns. The.
23 total yards, Van transfer from Miami completed.
Dyke was given the back-to-back tosses to Will.
reigns. The transfer from Pauling and Bryson Green.
Miami completed back-to-back tosses for 24 yards, then.
to Will Pauling and found Trech Kekahuna a.
Bryson Green for 24 few plays later to.
yards, then found Trech get the Badgers into.
Kekahuna a few plays the red zone. However,.
later to get the they had to settle.
Badgers into the red for a 33-yard field.
zone. However, they had goal which Vakos converted..
to settle for a Wisconsin was far more.
33-yard field goal which aggressive in the passing.
Vakos converted. Wisconsin was game to begin the.
far more aggressive in second half. In some.
the passing game to ways it paid off,.
begin the second half. like a 17-yard strike.
In some ways it to Pauling and a.
paid off, like a 14-yard gem to Kekahuna,.
17-yard strike to Pauling but in the end.
and a 14-yard gem it really didnt. On.
to Kekahuna, but in 3rd and goal from.
the end it really the six-yard line Van.
didnt. On 3rd and Dyke nearly threw an.
goal from the six-yard interception and the Badgers.
line Van Dyke nearly had to settle for.
threw an interception and a field goal. Wisconsin.
the Badgers had to would get another chance.
settle for a field in the third quarter.
goal. Wisconsin would get after the Broncos missed.
another chance in the a field goal, however.
third quarter after the it was a nightmare.
Broncos missed a field drive for Van Dyke..
goal, however it was He was sacked for.
a nightmare drive for a loss of 9,.
Van Dyke. He was then threw an incompletion,.
sacked for a loss then was hit and.
of 9, then threw fumbled the ball. Tyson.
an incompletion, then was Lee fell on it.
hit and fumbled the for the Broncos. Needing.
ball. Tyson Lee fell a response, the Wisconsin.
on it for the defense seemed to step.
Broncos. Needing a response, up and hold the.
the Wisconsin defense seemed Broncos to a field.
to step up and goal, however Palmer Domschke.
hold the Broncos to faked the attempt and.
a field goal, however took the ball 26.
Palmer Domschke faked the yards, nearly scoring a.
attempt and took the touchdown. Buckley would punch.
ball 26 yards, nearly it in a few.
scoring a touchdown. Buckley plays later to take.
would punch it in the 14-13 lead with.
a few plays later 14:12 left in the.
to take the 14-13 game. Wisconsins next drive.
lead with 14:12 left quickly stalled, however they.
in the game. Wisconsins caught the luckiest of.
next drive quickly stalled, bounces. Atticus Bertrams punt.
however they caught the bounced off the foot.
luckiest of bounces. Atticus of a Bronco and.
Bertrams punt bounced off Xavier Lucas fell on.
the foot of a it to give the.
Bronco and Xavier Lucas Badgers the ball back.
fell on it to in the redzone. Keeping.
give the Badgers the the ball on the.
ball back in the ground, the Badgers took.
redzone. Keeping the ball full advantage of the.
on the ground, the extra chance. Walker and.
Badgers took full advantage Van Dyke combined for.
of the extra chance. four consecutive carries, with.
Walker and Van Dyke Walker punching his way.
combined for four consecutive into the endzone to.
carries, with Walker punching take a 19-14 lead..
his way into the A two-point conversion sweetened.
endzone to take a the deal and put.
19-14 lead. A two-point Wisconsin up by a.
conversion sweetened the deal touchdown with 10:33 to.
and put Wisconsin up play. The Badger defense.
by a touchdown with came up with a.
10:33 to play. The huge stand on the.
Badger defense came up ensuing drive, stopping the.
with a huge stand Broncos on fourth down.
on the ensuing drive, at midfield. That gave.
stopping the Broncos on Van Dyke and the.
fourth down at midfield. offense a chance to.
That gave Van Dyke shore up the lead,.
and the offense a and bleed some precious.
chance to shore up minutes off of the.
the lead, and bleed clock. They did just.
some precious minutes off that, crafting an 8-play.
of the clock. They drive that lasted over.
did just that, crafting 4:30 and ended with.
an 8-play drive that Van Dyke running into.
lasted over 4:30 and the endzone. The Badgers.
ended with Van Dyke found success on the.
running into the endzone. drive by returning to.
The Badgers found success what worked earlier in.
on the drive by the game: strong runs.
returning to what worked by Mellusi and Walker.
earlier in the game: with clean, short passes.
strong runs by Mellusi by Van Dyke. The.
and Walker with clean, Broncos were left with.
short passes by Van just over 3 minutes.
Dyke. The Broncos were to play with, needing.
left with just over two touchdowns but holding.
3 minutes to play all three timeouts. They.
with, needing two touchdowns wouldnt use a single.
but holding all three one. Wisconsin was able.
timeouts. They wouldnt use to shut the door.
a single one. Wisconsin right around midfield, benefiting.
was able to shut from a holding penalty.
the door right around and a 9-yard sack..
midfield, benefiting from a On 4th and 14,.
holding penalty and a in need of a.
9-yard sack. On 4th miracle, Wolff tried a.
and 14, in need pass but Xavier Lucas.
of a miracle, Wolff came up with a.
tried a pass but magnificent interception to seal.
Xavier Lucas came up the win for the.
with a magnificent interception Badgers. The Badgers escape.
to seal the win marks the third consecutive.
for the Badgers. The year that theyve won.
Badgers escape marks the the season opener. Theyll.
third consecutive year that be back in action.
theyve won the season next Saturday to take.
opener. Theyll be back on South Dakota at.
in action next Saturday Camp Randall Stadium. Kickoff.
to take on South is set for 2:30.
Dakota at Camp Randall p.m. CT COPYRIGHT 2024.
Stadium. Kickoff is set BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL.
for 2:30 p.m. CT RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL.
