Recapping Wisconsin football's loss to Indiana

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Wisconsin football suffered a 31-7 defeat against the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington, Indiana, on Saturday. 

Despite entering the contest as a heavy underdog, Luke Fickell's program held its own on defense throughout the majority of the first half of play. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza and the Hoosier offense mustered just 10 points in the first half before scoring 21 unanswered to secure the program's eleventh victory of the 2025 season.

Badger freshman signal-caller Carter Smith finished the game with nine completions for 98 passing yards, one passing touchdown and an interception at Memorial Stadium. The performance arrives after he rushed for UW's sole score in a 13-10 win over the Washington Huskies on Nov. 8.

On Saturday, Smith tallied his second career touchdown and first passing score of his collegiate tenure in Madison with a 45-yard strike to tight end Lance Mason late in the second quarter to knot the game up at 10. Outside of that sequence, Wisconsin's offense stalled.

On the other side of the gridiron, Heisman hopeful Mendoza completed 22 of his 24 attempts for 299 yards and four passing touchdowns. Former Badger tight end Riley Nowakowski registered four receptions for 65 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown to put IU up 23-7 in the third.

Wisconsin now sits at 3-7 entering its Nov. 22 showdown against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Camp Randall. At 11-0, Indiana is the No. 2 team in the country and positioned to host a College Football Playoff Game at Memorial Stadium this winter.

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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Recapping Wisconsin football's loss to Indiana

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