UW 30, MSU 6: Badgers pull rank in Big Ten opener
East Lansing, Mich. – Remember all the talk about Wisconsin’s daunting 2016 schedule?
The UW players sure do, because they were asked about the gauntlet of facing five ranked teams at every turn, almost from the moment the schedule was released.
It appears the question should have been reversed.
How are all the ranked teams on UW’s schedule going to handle Paul Chryst’s team?
The Badgers marched into Spartan Stadium wounded but confident and methodically dismantled No. 8 Michigan State, 30-6, in the teams’ Big Ten opener Saturday.
The result left the sellout crowd of 75,503 stunned and had to impress fans and analysts watching all over America.
NOTES: Alvarezrevels in UW's victory
DEFENSE: Takes over with takeaways
BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 30, Michigan State 6
LIVE BLOG: Replay Matt Velazquez's in-game discussion
TWITTER: Badgers players react to win over MSU
“As far as people who doubted us or didn’t believe it,” UW senior cornerback Sojourn Shelton said, “it’s crazy because it’s no shock to us.
“We expected to come in here and to win this game. Our coaches tell us that. We put in the preparation, the work.…
“I think that is the difference from my other years. People aren’t going into game saying: ‘If this or if that happens we may win.’
“We expect to win. It doesn’t matter if it is a team like this, a team ranked eighth.
“If we can make plays we can put ourselves in good situations and we can win. That is what we did today.”
Tenth-ranked UW improved to 1-0 in the Big Ten and 4-0 overall and has two victories over top-10 teams in the same season for just the fourth time in program history.
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The others came in 1954, ’59 and ‘62.
Next up for UW? A trip to No. 5 Michigan, which opened Big Ten play Saturday with a 49-10 victory over visiting Penn State.
“Very proud today of how the kids played and battled,” said Chryst, now 14-3 as UW’s head coach. “And so often we talk about it, it’s never perfect and you just got to keep playing and I thought they did that and did it together.
“We also talk a lot about opportunity and we knew today was an opportunity and the kids did a great job all week of preparing for it, and what I'm proudest of was them going out and playing.”
And whipping Michigan State (2-1, 0-1).
“We knew what they were when we came into this football game,” said Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, now 4-4 against UW. “We talked about it this week at length, that they were a very solid football team. And they would make you beat them.”
UW dominated Michigan State in all phases, for almost 60 minutes.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook, making his first college start, was magnificent playing behind a line that featured Brett Connors at center and Michael Deiter at left guard.
Hornibrook lost a fumble and threw an interception on the final play of the half but made big throws from start to finish.
He hit 16 of 26 attempts for 195 yards and a touchdown and was brilliant on third down. Hornibrook hit 9 of 12 passes for 136 yards, for six first downs, on the crucial down.
“I was really excited,” said Hornibrook, who led UW to three touchdowns on three red-zone trips. "I try not to think about the outside things, the distractions, and just play football.
“I was happy with the score, for sure. A win is a win and it is awesome. But personally, I feel like I could do a lot better.”
That isn’t good news for the rest of the Big Ten.
“He was just on fire,” Michigan State defensive coordinator Harlan Barnett said. “We had guys right there. He was putting the ball on the money.”
UW’s defense forced four turnovers, two of which resulted in touchdowns, and held the Spartans to 75 rushing yards on 27 carries. T.J. Watt recorded 2½ of UW’s four sacks and the Badgers finished with seven tackles for loss.
An interception by Shelton in the second quarter led to UW’s second touchdown and safety Leo Musso returned a fumble 66 yards to help UW take a 20-6 lead early in the third quarter.
“They are a great team,” said safety D’Cota Dixon, who forced the fumble recovered by Musso and finished with a team-high seven tackles. “All due respect to Michigan State. Hats off. But we expect what to do what we did on defense.”
Kicker Andrew Endicott, subbing for injured starter Rafael Gaglianone, missed an extra-point attempt but also drilled a 41-yard field-goal attempt to give UW a 23-6 lead.
UW punter Anthony Lotti placed two of his five punts inside the Michigan State 10 and averaged 40.8 yards on five punts as the Badgers won the special teams battle.
The Badgers’ punt-coverage unit contributed by smothering punter Jake Hartbarger, who muffed a high snap, at the Spartans’ 5 in the third quarter.
Tailback Corey Clement (21 carries, 50 yards, two touchdowns) scored on the next play to help UW push its lead to 30-6 with 3 minutes 52 seconds left in the third quarter.
“I think we make a statement every game,” said Clement, who played for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in the first half against Akron in Week 2. "We’re contenders every time we come out here on this field.
“We want respect, but sometimes we're not going to get it. And that's going to be the fuel to our fire.”