All Badgers

Live updates: Wisconsin Badgers at Northwestern game thread

Live in-game drive and scoring updates from Wisconsin football's Saturday matchup against Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois.

Matt Belz

In this story:

The Wisconsin Badgers (2-3 overall, 0-2 B1G) come into Saturday's road contest at Northwestern (1-4 overall) as double-digit favorites despite surprisingly making a coaching change after their Week 5 loss versus Illinois. 

With interim head coach Jim Leonhard overseeing the Badgers, Wisconsin is looking to get back to .500 and secure their first Big Ten win of the 2022 season. 

With kickoff time set for 2:30 p.m. CST and the game aired on the Big Ten Network, All Badgers will have a rolling thread of game updates as they happen from the game.

Contents

  1. Pregame Status Updates
  2. First quarter
  3. Second quarter
  4. Third quarter
  5. Fourth quarter

Pregame Status Updates

  • Wisconsin's depth chart for the Northwestern game
  • Wisconsin will be without the following players against Northwestern due to injury: safety Hunter Wohler (left leg), RT Riley Mahlman (left leg), K Vito Calvaruso (right leg), OLB Aaron Witt (right leg), and QB Chase Wolf (right knee), CB Al Ashford, DE Isaiah Mullens (right leg), TE Hayden Rucci (right leg). 
  • The Wisconsin players who are out for the entire 2022 season: safety Travian Blaylock (right knee), DE Mike Jarvis (left leg), ILB Luna Larson (right leg), and DE Isaac Townsend (left leg), TE Cam Large (right leg).
  • Senior cornerback Alexander Smith is expected to make his first appearance this season after missing the first five games with a hamstring injury.
  • Both wide receiver Keontez Lewis and running back Isaac Guerendo made the trip to Evanston after leaving the Illinois game with injuries.
  • Defensive end Isaiah Mullens was a late scratch for this game, meaning that James Thompson Jr. will likely earn the start opposite Rodas Johnson against Northwestern.
  • The Badgers will also shake things up on the offensive line, as Jack Nelson, Tanor Bortolini, Joe Tippmann, Micahel Furtney, and Trey Wedig are the starting group. 
  • According to Colten Bartholomew, Wisconsin inside linebacker Maema Njongmeta has a brace on his hand, and the Badgers have Tate Grass and Jake Chaney working with the starters in warmups. 
  • In terms of uniforms, the Wisconsin Badgers are wearing red pants with white jerseys as the road team.
  • Northwestern wins the opening toss and opt to defer to the second half. Wisconsin will take the ball to start the game. 
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First quarter

  • 14:05 - After a short kickoff return, Graham Mertz completes back-to-back passes to Chimere Dike move the chains for Wisconsin.
  • 13:00 - Braelon Allen converts another first down on a big 33-yard gain. He took the ball 36 yards on his first four carries. 
  • 11:00 - True freshman wide receiver Vinny Anthony picks up a key first down on a jet-sweep to move Wisconsin into the red zone. The gain was only four yards, but he made a tremendous second-effort pass the line to gain. 
  • 9:52 - After consecutive overthrows by Graham Mertz, the Badges are forced to settle for a short field goal attempt. Freshman kicker Nate Van Zelst misses the 35-yard kick wide left, and Wisconsin squanders a good opening drive. 
  • 9:23 - Northwestern begins their first opportunity with the ball with a 16-yard throw from Ryan Hilinski to Thomas Gordon to pick up a quick first down.
  • 7:36 - After moving the ball past midfield with a strong run by Northwestern running back Evan Hull, Hilinski throws two straight incompletions to bring out the punting unit. Northwestern downs the ball at the one-yard line to pin Wisconsin deep.
  • 7:19 - Braelon Allen breaks off a 14-yard run to give the Badgers some breathing room from their own end zone. 
  • 5:05 - Graham Mertz finds Wisconsin wide receiver Skyler Bell against zone coverage for a 21-yard catch and run to put the Badgers back in scoring position once again. 
  • 2:25 - Mertz would cap the drive off with a 15-yard play-action throw to Skyler Bell who was wide-open in the end zone to give Wisconsin an early lead in Evanston. The drive was nine plays, spanning 98 yards. 

7-0 Wisconsin

  • 1:46 - After taking over at their own 27-yard line, Northwestern picks up a first down on a Ryan Hilinski throw. 
  • 0:31 - Nick Herbig provides pressure on Hilinski, and Wisconsin safety Kamo'i Latu comes up with a crucial diving interception to give the Badgers the ball back with good field position. 

7-0 Wisconsin at the end of the first quarter

Second quarter

  • 14:50 - Graham Mertz would light up the scoreboard once again on the first play of the second quarter, finding wide receiver Chimere Dike for a 52-yard touchdown. Dike was open on a crossing route and he weaved his way through traffic for the huge touchdown reception. 

14-0 Wisconsin

  • 13:33 - Northwestern goes three-and-out on their next drive, providing Wisconsin with the ball back on the 30-yard line after the punt. 
  • 11:15 - The Badgers picks up a first down on consecutive runs by Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi, but Wisconsin is unable convert the next first down. Allen ran the ball out of the wildcat on third and short, but was stuffed for a loss of one. Andy Vujnovich punted the ball back to Northwestern. 
  • 9:43 - Northwestern has to punt after running only three plays as well, giving the Badgers the ball back at the 34-yard line.
  • 9:02 - After a short run by Braelon Allen, Graham Mertz misses a wide-open Jack Eschenbach streaking up the seam. However, the junior quarterback answered with a huge 43-yard throw to Chimere Dike for another big gain. 
  • 6:58 - Mertz would find Dike again, floating a 21-yard touchdown to give the Badgers a three touchdown lead. Mertz did a great job of eluding the pass rush and delivering the touch pass to Dike for the touchdown. 

21-0 Wisconsin

  • 5:32 - Senior cornerback Cedrick Dort of Wisconsin nearly intercepts a third down throw by Northwestern. The incompletion forces another punt for the Wildcats. 
  • 4:35 - Mertz completes a checkdown to Braelon Allen for a Wisconsin first down.
  • 2:11 - Running back Braelon Allen scrambles out of the backfield in the wildcat formation, and delivers a touchdown throw to fellow running back Chez Mellusi for a 23-yard Wisconsin touchdown.  

28-0 Wisconsin

  • 1:42 - Northwestern picks up a first down on a 12-yard throw from Ryan Hilinski to Malik Washington. Wisconsin nose tackle Keeanu Benton hurt on the play.
  • 1:30 - Evan Hull gets loose on a screen pass, picking up 44 yards on the play to move Northwstern into scoring position.  
  • 0:00 - Wisconsin's defense would come up with a big stand, forcing a Northwestern field goal try. The attempt was wide left, securing a 28-0 lead at halftime for the Badgers. 

28-0 Wisconsin

Third quarter

  • 15:00 - Northwestern receives the ball to open the second half. 
  • 14:23 - Wisconsin cornerback Cedrick Dort breaks up another deep throw by Northwestern, but goes does hard and is injured. 
  • 13:53 - Northwestern completes a 25-yard back-shoulder throw to move into Wisconsin territory. Ryan Hilinski to Bryce Kirtz on the completion. 
  • 12:00 - On fourth and short, Wisconsin safety Kamo'i Latu comes up with his second interception of the game to end the Northwestern scoring chance. Wisconsin takes over with the ball at the 20-yard line after the return. 
  • 9:23 - Wisconsin would wind down the clock and pick up a big first down in the running game, but ultimately, the Badgers had to punt the ball back to Northwestern after a penalty on UW forced a third and long incompletion. 
  • 9:07 - With Northwestern QB Ryan Hilinski out with an injury, Brendan Sullivan took a zone-read 15 yards to give the Wildcats a first down to open the drive. 
  • 8:20 - Sullivan then found Cam Porter for a 15-yard pass to pass the 50-yard line.
  • 7:18 - Sullivan would not see Wisconsin outside linebacker Nick herbig off the edge later in the drive. Herbig would get home for the sack and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Wisconsin defensive end James Thompson Jr. of the defense. 
  • 5:16 - Wisconsin can not muster much on offense and are forced to punt the ball. Andy Vujnovich flips the field with the kick downed inside the Northwestern five-yard line. 
  • 3:15 - Northwestern picks up a pair of first downs on the ground, and then Wisconsin safety Titus Toler is called for targeting on a big hit over the middle of the field. The targeting call is taken away after review. 
  • 1:44 - Nick Herbig comes up with a big third down tackle on Evan Hull to force a fourth and four, and the Badgers defense ultimately would stop Northwestern from picking up the first down. 
  • 0:00 - Graham Mertz finds Chimere Dike on another crossing route to push the Badgers down to the Northwestern six-yard line. The pass completion went 26 yards to end the third quarter. 

28-0 Wisconsin

Fourth quarter

  • 14:53 - Mertz hits Dike for a 6-yard touchdown to make it a 35-point lead for Wisconsin. 

35-0 Wisconsin

  • 13:42 - Northwestern quarterback Brendan Sullivan drops a rainbow into Bryce Kirtz down the sideline for a huge 41-yard gain. 
  • 11:08 - Sullivan finds Anthony Tyus III for a short touchdown throw to give Northwestern their first points of the afternoon. 

35-7 Wisconsin

  • 9:04 - Graham Mertz and Braelon Allen help the Badgers pick up a pair of first downs. 
  • 7:06 - Wide receiver Dean Engram has two-straight receptions to give the Badgers another first down. 
  • 3:57 - Braelon Allen moves the chains with another bruising run up the middle as the Badgers attempt to run the clock. 
  • 2:28 - Graham Mertz hits Markus Allen for a 19-yard touchdown throw on an run-pass option. 

42-7 Wisconsin

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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