Quarterback Graham Mertz followed up his shaky performance two weeks ago at Northwestern with another turnover-plagued night as the No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers fell to the No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers 14-6.
Turnovers were the name of the game coming into the contest, with Mertz’s three interceptions and one fumble against the Wildcats two weeks ago playing a massive role in the Badgers losing the contest and the Hoosier defense entering tonight with a Big Ten-leading 18 takeaways.
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Well, Indiana turned a second-quarter Mertz fumble into a touchdown and intercepted the Badger quarterback again during the Badgers’ first drive in the second half, stopping them from battling back into the contest.
Wisconsin did make it a one-possession game in the fourth quarter and had the chance to drive down the field and tie it, but as was the case all night the drive fell short in the end.
All week I noted turnovers as one of the biggest keys of the game, the one stat that will define who’ll win and the single thing Mertz would need to improve upon after struggling to get anything going against the Wildcats.
Jim Leonhard’s defense played an impressive game, forcing a fumble and holding an explosive Indiana offense to only 217 yards and 14 points.
Wisconsin even bested Indiana in nearly every statistical category–342 offensive yards to the Hoosiers’ 217, 140 rushing yards to 87, 50% on third down to 40%, 35:08 time of possession to 24:52 and more.
But thanks to the Wisconsin offense being unable to turn any of their three red-zone trips into touchdowns, Mertz’s two turnovers and Indiana quarterback Jack Tuttle playing admirably for somebody who hadn’t started a collegiate game, it was Indiana that finished on top in the end.
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Badger fans will have questions about the Wisconsin offense not featuring any jet sweeps or end around handoffs, true freshman Jalen Berger breaking big runs and immediately being taken off the field and more. But in the end, it was Indiana that showed why they were 5-1 coming into the game and their team that made the necessary plays to win the game.
Moving forward, the Badgers now get set for a showdown with Big Ten West rival Iowa next weekend as they try to finish the regular season as the runner up to division champion Northwestern.