The battle for the Freedom Trophy takes place tonight inside Camp Randall Stadium as the No. 16 Wisconsin Badgers host the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday night. Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) come off with a bye week after its 28-17 road win at Iowa a couple of weekends ago. Nebraska (0-4, 0-2) suffered a 42-28 setback to Purdue last weekend to keep the Huskers winless under first year head coach Scott Frost. Come follow along and comment below as Wisconsin looks to make it a 2-0 start in the conference before it heads to Michigan next week for yet another night time clash.<doc-sep>This was what most of us expected. The Badgers managed to mash the Huskers and control the game with their running backs. Nebraska didn’t show a lot of progress, but I don’t think they took too many steps backward. If Frost gets even a few more pieces of this puzzle pulled together, this will be a fun team to watch. First Quarter Wisconsin won the toss and chose to start with the ball. No surprise, Eric Lee drew the start at corner for the Huskers. Wisconsin converted a fourth down fourth down near midfield, because, why not? They quickly moved into the red zone behind the running of Jonathan Taylor. The Blackshirts held up against a very good red zone team and forced the Rafael Gaglionone field goal. Wisconsin 3 Nebraska 0 The Huskers got a nice first down pass play to Stanley Morgan Jr, but sputtered after that. Caleb Lightbourn came out for the punt and, say it with me, special teams drew a penalty, a false start. Jack Dunn returned the punt to the 45 yard line. Nebraska’s special teams are still “special” so far today. In addition to Jonathan Taylor, Jake Ferguson was doing damage to the Nebraska defense. Fortunately, the Blackshirts held up and forced a punt. Touchback. The Husker offense went three-and-out and after a terrible punt by Lightbourn, the Badgers were in business at midfield. They moved the ball close to the red zone. Second Quarter The Badgers had their chances at the end zone but had to settle for a field goal. Wisconsin 6 Nebraska 0 Maurice Washington kneeled the kickoff in the end zone for the touchback. He continued to be the workhorse on the drive, taking the Huskers past midfield with hard running and a sweeeeeet spin move. An in complete pass to JD Spielman and a holding penalty on Matt Farniok moved Nebraska back to the 50 yard line. On a big third and 16, Adrian Martinez found a wide open Stanley Morgan, Jr. to put the Huskers in the red zone. The drive stalled at the 14 and the Barret Pickering field goal was good. Wisconsin 6 Nebraska 3 Aaron Cruickshank brought the kickoff out of the end zone and was only stopped by a shoestring, touchdown-saving tackle by Caleb Lightbourn. Wiscy wasted no time pushing the ball down the field and were set up at first and goal (three yard line) within a few plays. The first down run by Taylor was originally ruled down at the one, but reversed on replay. Touchdown Wisconsin. Wisconsin 13 Nebraska 3 Nebraska quickly passed midfield but saw a great J.D. Spielman reverse-the-field play called back on a ticky tacky holding call on Jerald Foster. Adrian Martinez showed his youth as he took a sack rather than throwing the ball away, setting up third and 12. The pass was complete to Spielman but it was called back on a hands to the face penalty on Farniok. On third and 27, Martinez found Morgan but it was well short of the line to gain. The Badgers started using their timeouts with 2 minutes left in the half. The fourth down pass was incomplete and Wisconsin took over at the 37 yard line. The Badgers found all kinds of holes in the Blackshirt defense and powered downfield. A pass interference call on Lamar Jackson set up the Badgers with a first and goal with 55 seconds in the half. Luke Gifford sacked Alex Hornibrook on first down but all was for naught as he found the tight end Ferguson for the touchdown. Wisconsin 20 Nebraska 3 Nebraska got the ball with 35 seconds left but went three-and-out and punted the ball back to Wiscy with 12 seconds left. Of note - the Huskers sent out the backup punter Isaac Armstrong. Wiscy took a knee and that ended the half. Halftime DID YOU KNOW JAKE FERGUSON WAS BARRY ALVAREZ’S GRANDSON?! ? But we still don’t know who his roommate is. #3 ranked Husker volleyball is in a big time contest with #5 Minnesota in a match that will determine which team takes sole control of the Big Ten. The Huskers lost set one, took set two and are trading blows with the Gophers in set three. Third Quarter I flipped over from the volleyball game just in time to watch J.D. Spielman jogging all alone to the endzone. TOUCHDOWN NEBRASKA!!! The 75 yard catch and run was the longest offensive play for the Huskers all season. Wisconsin 20 Nebraska 10 On the Badgers ensuing possession, the Huskers drew their 7th penalty of the game (for 75 yards). The Huskers had the Badgers in a third and seven. The Blackshirts had Hornibrook in their grasp, but he made the completion to keep the drive alive. A couple plays later, Taylor found the edge, went over 100 yards rushing for the game and found the end zone. Touchdown Wisconsin. Wisconsin 27 Nebraska 10 Some nice plays by the Nebraska offense....Get out your bingo cards....Fumble. Badgers recover. The nice announcers note that Wisconsin has crossed midfield and made it into Husker territory on all seven of their drives so far. Even a holding call doesn’t slow them down as they get 19 yards on a first and 17. Sigh. And then 20 more once they reach the red zone. Touchdown Tawain Deal. Wisconsin 34 Nebraska 10 Adrian Martinez fumbled on the next play but the ball fortunately sailed out of bounds. Of concern, Maurice Washington crawled off the field in obvious pain. Enter Devine Ozigbo...and J.D. Spielman who was somehow forgotten by the Badger secondary and he moved the Huskers well inside Badger territory. After scrambling around, Adrian Martinez found Jack Stoll in the very edge of the end zone. TOUCHDOWN NEBRASKA! ! Wisconsin 34 Nebraska 17 The defense is gassed and has been on the field way too much but I want to shoutout to Mohamed Barry. He plays like his hair is on fire all the time. The Blackshirts forced a punt and the Husker offense was pinned deep. Thanks to J.D.<doc-sep>Notes, tidbits and stats heading for Saturday night’s game between the Wisconsin Badgers and Nebraska Cornhuskers at Camp Randall Stadium: — This is the 13th meeting between Wisconsin and Nebraska with the Badgers holding an 8-4 edge, including five straight wins. The Badgers haven’t lost to the Cornhuskers in Madison since 1966 (5-0 since). — The Badgers have won 16 consecutive regular-season Big Ten games, the longest streak in school history. The last loss was vs. Ohio State on Oct. 15, 2016. — Under Paul Chryst, Wisconsin is 26-4 when scoring first (2-1 in 2018), 11-4 when the opponent scores first (1-0 in 2018), 22-3 when leading after the first quarter (1-0 in 2018), 8-3 when trailing after the first quarter (1-0 in 2018), 31-2 when leading at halftime (2-0 in 2018), 3-5 when trailing at halftime, 33-2 when leading after the third quarter (2-0 in 2018) and 4-5 when trailing after the third quarter (1-1 in 2018). — Wisconsin and Nebraska have played since times since the Huskers entered the Big Ten. UW has a 100-yard rusher in six of those and are 6-0 in those games (losing the only one it didn’t). The roll call: 2017 – Jonathan Taylor 248; 2016 – Dare Ogunbowale 120; 2015 – Ogunbowale 117; 2014 – Melvin Gordon 408; 2012 Big Ten title game – Gordon 216, Montee Ball 202, James White 109; 2011 – Ball 151; 1974 – Billy Marek 145. — The Badgers have four 200-yard passers vs. Nebraska (3-1 in those games): 2015 – Joel Stave, 332; 2012 – Stave, 214; 2011 – Russell Wilson, 255; 1974 – Greg Bohlig, 242. — Wisconsin has just three 100-yard receivers vs. Nebraska: 2015 – Alex Erickson, 113; 2012 – Jared Abbrederis, 142; 1974 – Jeff Mack, 132. — Jonathan Taylor needs 210 yards to pass Rufus Ferguson for 14th place on UW’s all-time rushing yards list. — Taylor needs 1 touchdown to tie and 2 to pass Larry Emery and Alan Thompson for 18th place, 3 to tie Dale Hackbart for 16th place and 4 to tie Brian Calhoun for 15th place on UW’s all-time rushing touchdowns list. — Alex Hornibrook needs 284 yards to pass Mike Samuel for 7th place and 298 to pass Randy Wright for 6th place on UW’s all-time passing yards list. — Hornibrook needs 14 completions to pass Randy Wright for 7th place and 27 to pass Mike Samuel for 6th place on UW’s all-time completions list. — Hornibrook needs 13 passes to pass Scott Tolzien for 8th place on UW’s all-time pass attempts list. — Hornibrook needs 1 interception to tie Mike Kalasmiki for 12th place, 2 to tie Hal Brandt for 11th place, 3 to tie Neil Graff and Ron Miller for 9th place and 4 to tie Mike Samuel for 8th place on UW’s all-time interceptions list. — A.J. Taylor needs 1 touchdown to tie Sam Arneson, Owen Daniels, Larry Mialik and Lance Kenrdricks for 21st place, 2 to tie Darrin Charles, Lou Holland, Matt Nyquist and Mike Roan for 17th place and 3 to tie Jeff Mack and Brandon Williams for 15th place on UW’s all-time receiving touchdowns list. — Taylor needs 178 yards to become the 30th Badgers player to reach 1,000 receiving yards. — T.J. Edwards needs 6 tackles to pass David Wings for 25th place, 8 to pass Dave Aherns for 24th place, 9 to pass Jim Leonhard for 23rd place and 11 to pass Dennis Stejskal for 22nd place on UW’s all-time tackles list. — Edwards needs 1 interception to tie seven others (most recently Sojourn Shelton) and 2 to tie David Greenwood for 7th place on UW’s all-time interceptions list. — Edwards needs 4.5 TFL to tie and 5.5 to pass Gary Casper for 15th place on UW’s all-time tackles for loss list. — Rafael Gaglianone needs 2 field goals to tie and 3 to pass Todd Gregoire for 1st place on UW’s all-time field goals list. — Gaglianone needs 1 field-goal attempt to pass Rich Thompson for 2nd place on UW’s all-time field-goal attempts list. — Gaglianone needs one 50+-yard field goal be the only kicker in Wisconsin history with four FGs from 50+ in Wisconsin history. — Gaglianone needs 10 points to tie and 11 to pass Philip Welch for 3rd place on UW’s all-time points list.<doc-sep>Wisconsin won the last time they faced Nebraska, and things went their way on Saturday, too. Wisconsin captured a comfortable 41-24 victory over Nebraska. The success made it back-to-back wins for Wisconsin. Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for 221 yards and 3 touchdowns, was a major factor in Wisconsin's success. One of the most memorable plays of the match was Taylor's 88-yard touchdown rush in the fourth quarter. A silver lining for Nebraska was the play of Adrian Martinez, who accumulated 384 passing yards and picked up 57 yards on the ground. Near the top of the highlight reel was Martinez's 75-yard TD bomb to JD Spielman in the third quarter. The win bumped Wisconsin's record up to 4-1. Nebraska are still searching for that first win as they fell to 0-5. Next week Wisconsin take on Michigan at 7:30 p.m. Those two teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous games. As for Nebraska, they will face off against Northwestern.<doc-sep>
Nebraska will travel to Wisconsin on Saturday for its second road test in three weeks against a nationally ranked opponent. Kickoff from Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday evening will be shortly after 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on BTN and can be heard on the IMG Husker Sports Network. Nebraska heads to Wisconsin with an 0-4 record and an 0-2 mark in the Big Ten Conference. The Huskers fell to Purdue, 42-28, on Saturday in Lincoln despite a strong offensive effort. Nebraska gained 582 yards in the loss, with a balanced attack that featured 259 rushing yards and 323 yards through the air. Wisconsin has captured the past two Big Ten West crowns and enters the matchup with a 3-1 record, including 1-0 in Big Ten play. Wisconsin is ranked No. 16 in this week’s AP poll and 12th in the coaches poll. The Badgers opened conference action on Sept. 22 with a hard-fought, 28-17, road win at Iowa, before having a bye last weekend. The Badgers have their traditional power running game in full gear in 2018, averaging 266 yards per game on the ground to rank first in the Big Ten and eighth nationally. Wisconsin has also been tough on defense early in the season, allowing just 14.5 points per game. Date/Time: October 6, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. CDT Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI Capacity: 80,321 Surface: Field Turf Opposition Blog: Check out Buckys5thQuarter for everything Badger. Series Record: Wisconsin leads the all-time series 8-4. TV: The game will be televised on BTN with Play-by-Play by Kevin Kugler, Analyst: Matt Millen and Sidelines: Rick Pizzo. It can be streamed on BTN2Go with a login from your cable, satellite, or streaming provider. Radio: Look for your local radio station on the Huskers sports radio network. The audio can also be streamed live for free at huskers.com The crew will be: Greg Sharpe, Matt Davison, and Ben MacLaughlin. More streaming options: The official Husker app is available on iTunes as well and Google Play. The game can be streamed on the TuneIn app for free (search for the Husker IMG Sports Network. Weather: At kickoff it will be 57 degrees and cloudy with a 20% chance of rain and winds from the north-northeast at 6 mph. Odds: Wisconsin is favored by 17-18.5 points. Trivia Senior running back Devine Ozigbo averaged 10.0 yards per rush against Purdue last Saturday. Ozigbo rushed for a career-high 170 yards on 17 carries and had a pair of rushing touchdowns. Sophomore receiver JD Spielman snagged 10 receptions against Purdue for the second double-figure reception game of his career. Spielman is one of only two Huskers with two double-digit reception games in their career, joining Marlon Lucky. Quotables Head Coach Scott Frost on the similarities between Nebraska and Wisconsin. “They play a defensive scheme that is similar to ours,” Frost said. “They’re odd against base. I think we will get some even, nickel, some schemes I think our guys are used to seeing. They look a lot like how Nebraska used to look and how we want to look in some ways. There are some things that I think will look familiar to the guys but it has to be a nameless faceless opponent each week. We are playing against our former selves we just have to be better than we have been.” Coach Frost on what the team will focus on to control both sides of the ball at Wisconsin. “We have to be efficient with the snaps,” Frost said. “You get in a game like that and your defense gets some snaps and it gets us the ball back that is when you have a chance. If we allow them just to march it down the field, and we don’t see the ball that’s the kind of game they want to be in and our defense has to up and do well and our offense has to be efficient.” On the depth of the wide receivers and running backs. “I think (Jaron) Woodyard has done some good things this week, his definitely taken some steps forward. We have to get [freshman wide-receiver] Andre Hunt back and healthy, he was starting to show progress. We are really thin at that position, we can’t keep those guys out there that long so we desperately need some of those guys to step up and be ready.” On the running backs