BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
***Be sure to check out this week's Dream Season game, Wisconsin vs. Michigan from Sept. 21, 2019, on Saturday, Oct. 3 starting at 10 a.m. CT on BTN's YouTube channel.***
MADISON, Wis. — It may not be the flashiest statistic in the Wisconsin football record book, but it's still worth some scrutiny.
In 2019, the Badgers made good on 18 of 23 fourth-down attempts, which represents the most conversions since the school began keeping track of the stat in 1993. The number of attempts is second to the 26 recorded in 2004. The .783 success rate ranks fourth behind 1996 (9-11, .818) and 1998 and 2010 (8-10, .800).
For perspective, Army was the Football Bowl Subdivision leader in fourth-down attempts (39) and conversions (26) last season. Navy also converted 26 times.
Curiously, Wisconsin went for it on fourth down just 38 times during the first four seasons of the Paul Chryst coaching era, converting 21 tries.
More curiosity: Chryst went for it on fourth down four times in the first quarter of games last season (4-for-4) and 12 times in the second quarter (11-for-12).
One of the most impactful fourth-down plays last season came during a 35-14 Big Ten Conference victory over Michigan at Camp Randall Stadium.
On their first possession, facing one of the elite defenses in the nation, the Badgers faced fourth-and inches from their own 34. Chryst inserted two additional offensive linemen in the backfield and watched as junior All-America running back Jonathan Taylor churned for three yards and a first down. That set the tone for a 12-play, 75-yard scoring march that laid the foundation for a dominating victory.
Here are five more things to know:
All Jacked Up
Wisconsin junior quarterback Jack Coan completed 81.3 percent of his passes against Michigan in 2019 (13-for-16), his first start reaching that rarified plateau. He subsequently completed 80 percent vs. Kent State (12-for-15) and 85.7 percent vs. Michigan State (18-for-21). Going back to 2009, the only Badgers quarterback with at least three 80-percent passing days in his career as a starter was Scott Tolzien, who had one in 2009 and two in 2010. Russell Wilson had two in 2011, Joel Stave had two from 2012 to '15 and Alex Hornibrook had one in 2017.
Upward Mobility
The Badgers averaged 6.7 yards per play vs. Michigan (73 plays, 487 yards). That's significant when you know Wisconsin has made noticeable progress in this area under Chryst. It was 5.29 in 2015, 5.45 in '16, 6.09 in '17 and 6.40 in '18. After the victory over the Wolverines, that average was 6.8.
Speed Zone
Thanks to the wonders of GPS technology, we know that Taylor reached a top speed of 22.4 mph during his breakthrough outing vs. Michigan. He did that during his 72-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, which set the stage for him to become the first Wisconsin ball-carrier to top 200 yards rushing vs. the Wolverines (23 carries, 203 yards).
Third and Nada
Wisconsin didn't allow the Wolverines to convert a single third down (0-for-10). How rare is that? Since the Badgers began tracking that stat in 1998 it marked the third instance of an opponent being held without a third-down conversion. All have come during the Chryst Era. All came at home. All resulted in blowouts. Illinois was 0-for-9 during a 48-3 loss in 2016 and Iowa was 0-for-13 in a 38-14 defeat in 2017.
In the End
Going back to 1942, there have been 14 instances where the Badgers and Michigan have finished a season both ranked in the Associated Press top 25 poll. On 10 of those occasions, Wisconsin had the higher finish, including 2019 when it was 11th and Michigan was 18th.
