John Clay and Montee Ball each rushed for
over 100 yards and combined for three touchdowns on the ground, as 24th-ranked
Wisconsin held off Indiana, 31-28, at Memorial Stadium.
Clay ran 15 times for 134 yards and Ball had 27 rushes for 115 yards and a
pair of scores for the Badgers (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten), who won their second in a
row and beat the Hoosiers for a fifth straight time. Scott Tolzien connected
on 11-of-20 passes for 194 yards with a touchdown. Nick Toon caught five balls
for 123 yards in the win.
"John Clay, in the first half, was a machine. Unfortunately, he got a slight
concussion so he missed the second half," said Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema.
"Ball was kind of like the energizer bunny. Every time he got a rep he just
kept grinning, smiling, and gaining momentum."
Ben Chappell completed 25-of-35 passes for 323 yards with three TDs and a pair
of interceptions for the Hoosiers (4-6, 1-5), who have lost three in a row and
six of their last seven contests. Tandon Doss caught six balls for 92 yards
and two touchdowns.
Ball's three-yard TD run pushed Wisconsin's lead to 31-21 with 8:18 left in
the game. It capped a seven-play, 78-yard march, highlighted by a 44-yard
connection from Tolzien to Toon.
The Hoosiers bounced right back with an 80-yard scoring march, culminated by
a two-yard run up the middle to the end zone from Trea Burgess on a fourth
down play with 4:01 remaining.
Facing a 3rd-and-8 at their own 32, the Badgers moved the chains with Tolzien
throwing 17 yards to Toon. Wisconsin ran out the remaining time.
"I thought they really controlled the first half, but I was really proud of
our guys," said Indiana coach Bill Lynch. "Given the other games we've had,
its' a stop here a conversion there, and they made them today. That's a very
good football team we played."
The Hoosiers grabbed the early 7-0 lead courtesy of Chappell's 11-yard
touchdown toss to Doss just 4:16 into the game. The score came after David
Gilreath fumbled a punt return for the Badgers.
Tolzien's 18-yard TD strike to Isaac Anderson tied the game just over two
minutes later. Clay's 48-yard run moved Wisconsin into Hoosiers territory
before the Badgers finished off the 77-yard drive.
Brown broke free on a 52-yard run on 4th-and-3 on the first play of the second
quarter, moving the ball to the Indiana one, but the Badgers were hurt by an
offensive pass interference penalty and had to settle for a Philip Welch 26-
yard field goal.
Chris Maragos picked off Chappell on Indiana's ensuing possession, and the
Badgers moved ahead 17-7 on Ball's one-yard scoring run up the middle.
Chappell's 46-yard touchdown pass to Doss got the Hoosiers within three points
again with 2:32 remaining in the half, but Clay scored on a 14-yard run with
just over a minute left.
Chappell was picked off by Chris Borland at the Wisconsin four early in the
third, but the Hoosiers later pulled within three again on Terrance Turner's
six-yard TD reception with 12 minutes left in the game.
Game Notes
Wisconsin hosts Michigan next Saturday, while the Hoosiers play at Penn
State...Indiana's Ray Fisher missed the contest with a knee injury. He headed
into Saturday leading the Big Ten with 37.4 yards per kickoff return. He has
taken two kickoffs back for touchdowns this season...This was Clay's eighth
career game of rushing for at least 100 yards...The Badgers hold a 36-18-2
lead in the all-time series...Wisconsin outgained the Hoosiers, 488-386.
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