Here are four quick takeaways from Wisconsin's 31-7 loss to No. 2 Indiana
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BLOOMINGTON, IND. – It’s official, the Wisconsin football team is guaranteed its second straight losing season.
The Badgers lost, 31-7, to No. 2 Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Memorial Stadium to drop to 3-7 overall and 1-6 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin has two games remaining: vs. Illinois at home Nov. 22 and at Minnesota on Nov. 29.
The Badgers faced long odds of scoring an upset but played Indiana to a tie late in the first half and was only down, 10-7, at the half before losing grip on the matchup in the second half.
More important than the outcome, the Badgers lost running back Gideon Ituka in the third quarter to an injury that required the redshirt freshman to be carted off the field with his neck restrained.
Freshman quarterback Carter Smith made his first start and had some success before IU’s defense tightened in the second half. He completed nine of 15 passes for 98 yards and one touchdown.
UW finished with 168 yards against the nation’s fifth-ranked defense. The Badgers had only 23 yards in the second half.
Indiana gained 215 yards and scored 21 second half points. Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza rarely missed, completing 22 of 24 passes for 299 yards and four touchdowns.
The win pushed Indiana’s record to 11-0 for the first time in program history. The Hoosiers’ 8-0 Big Ten record is also a first for the program.
Here are four takeaways from the loss.
Badgers don’t manage middle portion of the game
Wisconsin tied the game, 7-7, with 3 minutes 42 seconds to go in the first half. The situation was a prime opportunity for the Badgers to carry momentum into the half and potentially take it into the second.
It didn’t happen.
Indiana responded to the Badgers’ touchdown with a nine play, 56-yard drive that ended with a 37-yard field goal by Nico Radicic with 55 seconds to go in the half.
The Hoosiers then took the opening kickoff of the second half 75 yards in nine plays. Tight end Holden Staes completed that possession with a 2-yard TD catch at the 10:19 mark of the third quarter.
And just like that the tenor of the game changed in about 8 minutes of action. Besides getting a touchdown instead of Radicic’s field goal, the situation could not have unfolded better for Indiana.
UW outside linebacker Darryl Peterson has impressive afternoon
The Badgers allowed 388 yards, but senior outside linebacker Darryl Peterson finished with six tackles and a career-high 2 ½ sacks.
Each of the sacks was impactful.
Peterson’s sack of Mendoza on first down led to a Hoosier punt with about 8 minutes to go in the second quarter. Peterson’s second sack, which came on a first down play, got Indiana off schedule and caused it to settle for a field goal late in the first half.
And Peterson’s third sack came on a third-down play midway through the third quarter that resulted in the Badgers’ only stop during a four-possession stretch when Indiana allowed 17 points to take control of the game.
Wisconsin loosens reins on Carter Smith and is rewarded
The Badgers were less conservative with Smith than what we saw in his debut last week as he attacked the IU defense a few times with downfield throws.
The biggest vote of confidence he received was a pass play call on fourth and 1 from the Hoosiers 45. With IU selling out for a run, Smith hit a wide-open Lance Mason for a touchdown with 3:42 to play in the first half.
The score tied for the fourth-longest play of the season with Billy Edwards’ pass to Trech Kekahuna against Maryland on Sept. 20.
Smith had a productive half against the nation’s No. 6 defense, completing seven of 11 throws for 91 yards but went 2 for 4 for 7 yards and an interception in the second half.
Big plays hurt Badgers
Wisconsin had to feel good about trailing by only a 10-7 margin at the half, but they would have been in even better position were it not for two 30-yard gains by Indiana.
On the first, the Badgers got burned on a corner blitz and Fernando Mendoza connected with Charlie Becker for a 31-yard touchdown at the 2:56 mark of the first quarter.
The other was a 37-yard gain from Mendoza to tight end Riley Nowakowski that set up Radicic’s 37-yard field goal.
Those were the only gains of 20-plus yards in the first half for Indiana.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Four takeaways from Wisconsin’s 31-7 loss to No. 2 Indiana
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