A wild Saturday of college football action saw yet another unbeaten team fall from the ranks as No. 7 Nebraska was upended in an overtime thriller by No. 11 Wisconsin 23-17.
The Badgers’ uncharacteristically stingy defense allowed the Cornhuskers to score 10 points in the fourth quarter to rally late after what was a very mediocre offensive performance for both teams most of the night in Madison. The home team still came up with enough timely plays in overtime to hold on for the win but it certainly wasn’t an easy victory for Paul Chryst’s team in this Big Ten West showdown.
Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong completed just 12 passes over four quarters and overtime for a paltry 153 yards, including two ill-advised interceptions in one of the worst performances of his career. It’s not like the Badgers’ tandem of quarterbacks was much better though, with Alex Hornibrook and Bart Houston throwing for 114 yards combined as well as a pair of two interceptions thrown right to safety Nate Gerry.
One of the few bright spots on the day was Dare Ogunbowale, who led the Badgers with 120 yards on the ground and scored the game-winner in overtime from 11 yards out. Corey Clement also chipped in with 82 yards rushing too.
Even with the loss, Nebraska remains atop the Big Ten West standings but will need to win at Ohio State next week if they want to stay there. That’s a tall task even with how mediocre the Buckeyes are playing right now and one reason why the outcome on Saturday night could have been enough to give Wisconsin the division and a berth in the conference title game down the road.
There’s still plenty to play out and over a month of college football left however and as we saw this week, an upset is right around the corner for just about everybody in this crazy sport.