Wow. Even the most optimistic fan of the Wisconsin Badgers probably wasn’t expecting THAT. A blowout win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers completely changes the way this 2019 season will be remembered. It also validates the belief that after the rough two-week stretch in Champaign and Columbus against Illinois and Ohio State, this team wasn’t quite ready to run through a brick wall with fire coming out of its ears.
The Badgers were just trying to survive their first few games of November. They were waiting for the Gophers. They were waiting to not only ruin Minnesota’s year, but make their own big statement for UW and win a Big Ten West title. They could not have spoken more loudly or eloquently. Now they are going back to Indianapolis, in prime time, just as they did in 2017. No, they’re not playing for a playoff berth — unlike 2017 — but they are playing Ohio State for the Big Ten title.
It is where Wisconsin wants to be. It is where Wisconsin expects to be. The coaches who lived with the inconsistencies of the past several weeks had a responsibility to get this team to play well in the one game which mattered more than any other in 2019. Paul Chryst and Jim Leonhard answered the call. They thoroughly outcoached P.J. Fleck and offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, serving as catalysts for this thumping of the Gophers, with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit in attendance as part of ABC’s announcing crew.
Chryst was a little tentative early on, but as soon as Minnesota offensive lineman Daniel Faalele got injured — and as soon as Fleck weirdly punted on fourth and two inside the Wisconsin 36 in the first quarter — the Badgers took over this game. The players — especially the defense, which maxed out — deserve the credit, but the coaches get credit for having the players ready to play.
They had Caesar Williams and Faion Hicks ready to defend Minnesota’s wide receivers, Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman. They had the front seven ready to fill gaps and find lanes to the quarterback. Leonhard successfully rattled Tanner Morgan and took away the time the Gophers’ quarterback needs to execute Minnesota’s passing game. The Badgers forced the Gophers to throw outside the numbers. Minnesota wasn’t able to exploit the area between the hashmarks, where the Gophers normally do most of their damage through the air.
While Leonhard won the battle with fellow Broyles Award semifinalist Kirk Ciarrocca, Chryst and his offensive staff outflanked Minnesota’s defense. They got Jonathan Taylor involved in the passing game. They used end-arounds to keep Minnesota off-balance and uncertain. Chryst ordered a misdirection handoff on a kick return which gained big yardage and played a part in the Badgers maintaining the upper hand in the second half.
Chryst and Leonhard were both clever without being imprudent, aggressive without breaking Wisconsin’s identity. The Badgers were physical but not conservative, balanced but not predictable. Chryst and his offensive coaches got the best out of Jack Coan on an afternoon when the Badgers needed No. 17 to flourish. Every challenge facing this coaching staff was a challenge the staff answered.
Take a bow, Paul and Jim — and all the other assistants, while we’re at it — before preparing for Ohio State in Indianapolis. If Wisconsin’s coaches deserved heat in recent weeks, they definitely deserve ample credit after this masterpiece in Minneapolis.