Sorry for the month long delay in updates on this dynasty. Life, uh, just got in the way of writing about this. I’ve played a few more games after this one already, so hopefully there will be a flurry of updates in the coming days. We also received our first verbal commitment, which we’ll break down in a future post too!
Going into this game, the Badgers (3-0 overall, 1-0 B1G) were heavily favored and it was pretty easy to see why. Wisconsin had the top rushing defense in the nation going against EMU’s No. 111 rushing attack and Wisconsin had the nation’s highest scoring offense going against an Eagles (1-3 overall, 0-1 MAC) defense that could best be described as…middling.
It didn’t take long for Wisconsin to take the lead, as they were up 14-0 after the first quarter thanks to two Jonathan Taylor 30+ yard touchdown runs, but EMU was being undone by costly turnovers. In the first half, the Eagles made it into the redzone three times and came away with zero points. They also outgained the Badgers for the half!
They also had four turnovers, which shows you why it was 20-0 Wisconsin heading into the break.
Wisconsin scored twice, quickly, to open the second half on one long touchdown pass to Quintez Cephus and one long touchdown run by Taylor and the game was basically over after that.
The backups came in for the entire fourth quarter and really, uh, didn’t let off the gas at all. Chase Wolf came in and outperformed Jack Coan (who had an off day, but wasn’t really needed) by scoring three total touchdowns.
Taylor had a nice, casual day at the office and Garrett Groshek was able to get in for an entire quarter, and almost rush for 100 yards.
Nine different receivers caught passes for the Badgers, and Cephus was the leader with four for 79 yards and a score, but it was the drops that will need to be worked on in practice this week. Cephus, Jake Ferguson and Kendric Pryor were each credited with a drop on the day.
The defense played lights out all afternoon. Forcing seven turnovers is no small feat, even if it is against Eastern Michigan. Caesar Williams led the team with eight tackles while Chris Orr was right behind him with seven but added a sack. In fact, the Badgers had six sacks in the game.
So, uh, here’s where things get a little weird. Since the backups were in for the entire fourth quarter, EMU was passing on every down and the game has a limit to how many players you can have on the roster…A.J. Taylor played a bit of cornerback. AND HE PLAYED REALLY DAMN WELL! Donte Burton’s pick was taken to the house, btw.
The other two turnovers on the day were fumble recoveries by Noah Burks, one of which he rumbled 72 yards with for a score.
Wisconsin ended the game with exactly 500 yards of offense, 176 more than EMU, and 15 first downs, four fewer that EMU. It was kind of a weird game for such a blowout.
Love to see Taylor and Taylor being named the players of the game!
