Baggot: Five Things to Know vs. Ohio State
December 02, 2017 | Football, Andy Baggot
Insight and quick hits on the Badgers and Buckeyes, including some national championship history
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin football team is playing one of the most meaningful games in its history Saturday.
Some say it's the biggest game ever for UW.
The Badgers (12-0 overall) face Ohio State (10-2) in the Big Ten Football Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
UW is situated fourth in the latest College Football Playoff ranking, which all but assures that a victory over the Buckeyes, ranked ninth in the latest ratings, will secure a berth in the CFP.
In other words, at 13-0, Wisconsin has a shot at playing for its first national championship.
But the Badgers likely played their most significant game decades ago.
They were ranked second, 8-1 overall, in 1962 when they played top-ranked USC (10-0) in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans prevailed 42-37, so there's no debate about the national champion.
But what if UW had prevailed?
Back then nearly a dozen rankings — some human polls and some mathematical equations — weighed in on the national champion. Curiously, some voted before the bowl games, most notably the Associated Press (from 1936 to '64 and '66-67) and the United Press International (1950 to '73) media polls.
But some highly regarded resources, like the Football Writers Association of America, came out with their rankings after the bowl games, so it's reasonable to expect the Badgers would have been recognized as the national champion had they finished off their legendary 23-point, fourth-quarter comeback against USC.
Current Big Ten schools claim 51 national titles going back to 1869, when Rutgers reigned.
Some of the schools claim national championships based on single math formula like Illinois in 1951, Michigan State in '55 and Iowa in '60 (Boand), Iowa in '56 (Football Research) and Michigan State in '57 (Dunkel).
Some of those national titles are accounted for based on a single poll, like Ohio State in 1970 (National Football Foundation).
Things are more clear-cut now. The CFP uses a 13-person committee to determine its top 25. The top four teams will be made known Sunday after the conference championship games have been played.
By the way, Wisconsin was named the national champion by a single entity, the Helms Foundation, in 1942.
That squad went 8-1-1 overall, its signature victory coming over top-ranked Ohio State.
But the Badgers lost the following week to Iowa and, for some reason, never regained their footing in the rankings. They finished the season ranked seventh, according to the AP, while, strangely, the national title went to Ohio State.
Here are five things to know:
Taylor Tested
First-team All-Big Ten tailback Jonathan Taylor needs 120 yards to break the Football Bowl Subdivision record for rushing yards by a freshman. He has 1,806 and is looking to surpass the 1,925 yards gained by Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson, a fellow true freshman, in 2004. Taylor has already faced five of the top 50 rushing defenses in FBS, averaging 143.2 yards per outing and 6.23 yards per carry vs. No. 9 Northwestern, No. 21 Michigan, No. 31 Purdue, No. 36 Iowa and No. 43 BYU. Ohio State ranks 13th in stopping the run. The Buckeyes have allowed one back, Akrum Wadley of Iowa, to top 100 yards this season (20 carries, 118 yards).
Once a Badger, always a Badger Some familiar faces wanted to show their support for the #Badgers before tomorrow's Big Ten Championship Game Leave your own good luck message in the comments below ??
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) December 1, 2017
Fourth Estate
Wisconsin is the only FBS team not to trail in the fourth quarter of any game this season. Its average lead entering the final period to date is 14.8 points. It has outscored opponents 118-21 in the last 15 minutes. It has allowed only two teams — Northwestern and Illinois — to score in the fourth quarter.
Ransacked
The Badgers have collected 39 sacks — sixth in the nation — putting them on the verge of topping 40 in a season for just the third time since 1990. UW has 14 players with at least one sack, which is a different model than the one used to produce 43 in 1992 and 42 in 1998. Wisconsin had four players with seven or more in '92. Six seasons later, consensus All-America defensive end Tom Burke set a program record with 22 sacks.
"We're going out there playing for each other" This past summer, a message from Lou Holtz reinforced the bond this year's #Badgers share
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 30, 2017
We Belong
Currently on a 13-game winning streak, Wisconsin is 44-9 (.830) since the start of the 2014 season, trailing only Alabama (51-5, .911), Clemson (48-6, .889) and Ohio State (46-6, .885) among FBS programs in victories and winning percentage.
Everyone Pitches In
UW has had six different players lead the club in tackles in a game: Ryan Connelly, D'Cota Dixon, T.J. Edwards, Leon Jacobs, Chris Orr and Dontye Carrier-Williams. Three have done it three times: Connelly, Edwards and Orr. All three hail from the same position: inside linebacker.
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Getting excited for Saturday? ?? Varsity Magazine takes a look back at the defining moments so far for @BadgerFootball this season ???? http://go.wisc.edu/varsity-8-14
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) November 30, 2017
