Baggot: Ferguson exemplifies Badgers’ ability to respond to adversity
November 04, 2017 | Football, Andy Baggot
Showing characteristic poise, Wisconsin remains unbeaten by overcoming early deficit at Indiana
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — To hear backup senior safety Joe Ferguson tell it, making plays on behalf of the Wisconsin football team here Saturday was part good fortune, but mostly preparation.
Ferguson intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble, takeaways that UW converted into three touchdowns during a 45-17 Big Ten Conference triumph over Indiana at Memorial Stadium.
After the fourth-ranked Badgers (9-0 overall, 6-0 in conference play) moved closer to clinching first place in the West Division on a damp, gray day, Ferguson ambled out of the visiting locker room and tried to explain how his signature outing came to be.
"A ton of it is knowing the defense," he said. "If you're where you're supposed to be, half the time if the quarterback throws it toward you, you're going to have one right in your face. Then it's up to you to make the play.
"A little bit is luck, but mostly it's trusting the guy next to you and your ability, knowing what's supposed to happen on the play."
Ferguson came off the bench to spell ailing starter D'Cota Dixon and fortified his growing reputation for being in the middle of pivotal plays.
The Badgers have 19 takeaways this season and Ferguson is responsible for six of them: four interceptions, including a 99-yard pick-six in the opener vs. Utah State, and two fumble recoveries.
His latest fumble recovery came in the second quarter against the Hoosiers and set up the touchdown that put UW ahead for good.
His first career two-interception outing came to life in the fourth quarter and helped turn a worrisome affair into a blowout.
Wisconsin dug itself a 10-0 first-half hole against the Hoosiers (3-6, 0-6) and triggered an unpleasant November memory.
The last time the Badgers lost to a team with a losing record, it was Nov. 13, 2004 and they were handed a 49-14 loss at Michigan State, which was 4-5 overall.
Instead, UW won its 10th consecutive November road game going back to 2013 and improved to 12-1 in true road games during the Paul Chryst coaching era.
For some reason, the Badgers seem to thrive in choppy waters. They confront whatever adversity comes to life — injuries, turnovers or penalties — and find a way to make things right.
UW saw two starters — sophomore inside linebacker Chris Orr and sophomore wide receiver Quintez Cephus — leave the game with leg injuries.
A red-zone interception by sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook — his sixth consecutive outing with a pick — ruined a promising first drive.
Wisconsin was penalized six times — the sixth instance this season it has had at least that many — including three holding calls that doomed a second-half-ending drive.
Still, the Badgers found a way to throttle Indiana for the 10th straight time going back to 2005 and extend the nation's second-longest current win streak among Football Bowl Subdivision teams to 10 games.
"We've come in at halftime it seems every game and we say to ourselves, 'We don't have to make any adjustments; we just need to start making the plays we can do,'" Ferguson said. "That's what you saw today."
Ferguson set the tone in the playmaking department.
His fumble recovery at the Indiana 21 set the stage for an 8-yard TD pass from Hornibrook to Cephus that made it 14-10.
"I was just following the ball," Ferguson said. "It was squirting around, squirting around. I saw it and just jumped on it."
Both interceptions of Indiana quarterback Richard Lagow came on fourth-quarter plays over the middle. The first was aided by outside linebacker Tyler Johnson's crunching hit on Lagow. The second pick was a good reaction by Ferguson.
"The two interceptions, I was just doing my job," he said. "Those two were classic examples of being in the right spot where you're supposed to be."
A week after Dixon sat out a 24-10 win at Illinois, he started, but played sparingly. That put a heavier burden on Ferguson against a pass-happy club that came in averaging 41.5 throws per game.
"The cool thing was me and him were on the same page the entire time," Ferguson said of his tactical sideline meetings with Dixon.
Well, not exactly.
"None of it is luck," Dixon said of Ferguson's playmaking instincts. "It's simply doing your job. That's all it is.
"When you do your job and execute what you're supposed to do — you play with the right eyes, right technique, right leverage and trust the guys around you — plays come to you.
"Ferg did a great job at really demonstrating that today. He didn't have to do anything extraordinary. He just capitalized when the opportunity came his way."
So able is Ferguson that Dixon said UW coaches are trying to concoct a three-safety package to defend against spread teams.
Dixon said Ferguson has been consistently making plays — in practice and in games — going back to last season
"It's just great that he gets to show it and contribute," Dixon said.
The Badgers are unbeaten after nine outings for the first time since 2004. They play their next two games, vs. Iowa and Michigan, at Camp Randall Stadium before closing the regular season at Minnesota.
Asked about the choppy waters UW has navigated so far, Dixon offered a half smile.
"There's no fake juice on this team," he said. "Nobody's here playing for accolades. No one is here playing for hierarchy. Guys truly care about the men to the left and the right of them. They genuinely care.
"It reaps on the field. You see what happens on the field. Guys produce. Guys feed off each other. It's contagious.
"Obviously we have a few injuries. It's part of the game. But we got guys like Ferg who come in and give us that spark when we need it."
Ferguson, the grandson of UW director of athletics Barry Alvarez, has accounted for 32 percent of his team's takeaways with at least four games remaining.
"It's not over yet," Ferguson said. "I need to get in the end zone again."
