Miami had taken just one offensive snap in this year’s postseason appearance... and found themselves in a 14-0 hole.
Luckily for the Hurricanes though, their defense regrouped and the team only trails 14-3 to Wisconsin as a low-scoring Pinstripe Bowl hit halftime in the Bronx.
The Badgers’ initial score came off their opening drive as they hit the easy button on a six play, 65 yard effort before QB Jack Coan hit Kendric Pryor over the middle for a 35 yard touchdown. An interception and run back the defense on the ensuing possession then setup Doak Walker Award winner Jonathan Taylor going the other way for a short scoring run. The tailback wound up with 107 yards by the midway mark in the contest, looking much better than expected against a pretty stout UM defense.
Of course, it helped that Wisconsin had several short fields to work with thanks to the back end of their own defense going full ball hawk against Malik Rosier. The senior, playing in place of previous starter N’Kosi Perry, threw a pair of ill-advised interceptions and also saw one of his handoffs turn into a fumble. The signal-caller did have a few bright spots, taking off for a 62 yard run and winding up with 90 yards rushing all told.
Things could certainly still be worse for Mark Richt’s squad as Wisconsin kicker Rafael Gaglianone missed a pair of makeable field goals and the score remains somewhat manageable. Still, there was a lot of people who thought that Miami wouldn’t really get up for a cold weather game against an opponent they’ve seen plenty of recently but neither side will go into the second half all that thrilled with what went on early up at Yankee Stadium.