Game Wrap and Reaction: Indiana 20 Wisconsin 14

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Opponent: Wisconsin Badgers

Location: Bloomington, IN

Why They Played: The Hoosiers and the Wisconsin Badgers played a crossover Big Ten game. It was the Badgers first game in Bloomington since 2017.

What The Game Meant: It’s “Playoff Mode” in Bloomington and the Hoosiers started their four game season 1-0. They move to 3-6 (1-5) and kept their faint bowl hopes alive.

Top Offensive Performers

Brendan Sorsby, QB, Indiana- Sorsby was confident running and throwing the ball. Did he make some errors? Yes, but the consistency at QB is paying off. Sorsby finished 19-of-31 passing for 186 yards and a touchdown. He added 34 non-sack rushing yards and another touchdown. 

Donaven McCulley, WR, Indiana- McCulley has become a go-to receiver for the Hoosiers in big spots. Overall, McCulley made five catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Bryson Green, WR, Wisconsin- Green was Wisconsin’s most consistent offensive weapon and scored a long touchdown to get them back in the game. He finished with four catches for 96 yards.

Top Defensive Performers

Aaron Casey, LB, Indiana- The statline speaks for itself. Casey made nine tackles (seven solo stops), four tackles for loss, two sacks and forced a fumble. He makes Indiana’s defense go.

Jordan Shaw, Husky, Indiana- Playing a new position with a week to prepare was no problem for the true freshman. Shaw had nine tackles and a pass break up.

Phillip Dunnam, Safety, Indiana- Dunnam may have been overshadowed by Shaw and Casey, but he had himself a great game in pass coverage. Dunnam broke up two passes and made four tackles.

C.J. Goetz, LB, Wisconsin- Goetz led all tacklers with 12 including 1.5 for loss.

Special Team Performance

Catch the punt. Check.

Make a key field goal. Check. (Yes, Freeman missed another early one)

No Penalties on special teams. Check.

Flip field position with James Evans. Check.

IU did what they needed to do on special teams to win a game. Chris Freeman bounced back with a career-long 50-yard field goal and a couple decent Jaylin Lucas returns set up Indiana’s offense with good field position. Punter James Evans was consistent and pinned Wisconsin inside their own 20-yard line three times.

Key Stat(s)

5-0

Indiana turned Wisconsin over five times on Saturday. They recovered two fumbled and stopped the Badgers three times on fourth down. 

Turning Point

With Wisconsin driving for a score to either tie the game or take the lead they faced a fourth-and-two at Indiana’s 32-yard line. IU would get the stop and the ball with 4:32 left.

I Knew it Was Over When…

Josh Sanguiennti picked up a fumble on Wisconsin’s final play.

Players of the Game

Aaron Casey, Indiana

Bryson Green, Wisconsin

What I took away from the game

Winning football games is fun. The Hoosiers finally got some positive returns on their performances over the last two weeks and kept their still-faint bowl hopes alive.

This was a must-win game for the Hoosiers, who have now won back-to-back games against Wisconsin for the first time since 2002. IU led wire-to-wire and never trailed. Although there were many doubts about the outcome of the game, Wisconsin never led and never tied the game after falling behind 7-0.

The offense looked good in the first half and probably should have had a bigger lead going into halftime, but a 10-point lead was enough as the defense locked the Badgers down for the most part.

The second half was all defense for the Hoosiers as the offense struggled to regain traction. Two second half takeaways and stops on fourth down were enough for IU to hold on.

If the Hoosiers can play this type of football the rest of the way, it will be a formula to win more times than not. However, right now the focus for IU needs to be on Illinois.

What’s Next

Indiana will visit Illinois at Noon ET on BTN.