Wisconsin Badgers
6-3 , 4-2
Rutgers
4-5 , 1-5
Bowl Bound: Wisconsin wallops Rutgers, 52-3
November 06, 2021 | Football, Bowl Central
Badgers extend Bowl streak to 20th year
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Graham Mertz threw a season-high three touchdown passes and Wisconsin won its fifth straight game and become bowl eligible for the 20th straight year with a 52-3 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.
Chez Mellusi, Braelon Allen and Jackson Acker each ran for a touchdown and cornerback Caesar Williams highlighted a dominant performance by the Badgers' top-ranked defense by returning an interception 29 yards for a TD.
Mertz's touchdown passes covered 1-yard to John Chenal, 25 yards to Kendric Pryor and 72 yards to Danny Davis as the Badgers had their biggest point production since scoring 61 against Central Michigan early in 2019.
Coupled with No. 20 Minnesota's loss to Illinois, Wisconsin (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) will have a share of first place in the conference's West Division after opening the season with a 1-3 start, its worst since 1990.
Rutgers (4-5, 1-5) lost for the fifth time in six games in seeing its hopes for a first bowl bid since 2014 take another hit after a 3-0 start. The 52-points tied Ohio State for most allowed by the Scarlet Knights this season.
Wisconsin never trailed in beating Rutgers for the fourth time in as many games.
Mellusi opened the scoring with a 14-yard run on the second play after linebacker Noah Burks intercepted Noah Vedral's first pass and returned it to the Scarlet Knights 15.
Val Ambrosio's 24 yard field goal on the ensuing series were Rutgers' only points. The Badgers scored 24 in the second quarter to put the game away.
The turning point came after a short field goal by Collin Larsh. Former Badger Aron Cruickshank fumbled on the ensuing kickoff return and that set up the short, fourth-down TD pass by Mertz, who was 11 of 16 for 240 yards. Fourteen seconds later, Williams scored on the interception return and the rout was on.
The Badgers are forcing turnovers galore. They had eight in beating nationally ranked Iowa and Purdue in the previous two games. They added four more against Rutgers Saturday. The Scarlet Knights were limited to 207 yards.
Bowling for 20-straight years #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/8rZJWzHZzG
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 6, 2021
Wisconsin returns home on Saturday, Nov. 13 to face Northwestern at Camp Randall Stadium. Kickoff is still to be announced on the ESPN2.
The AP contributed to this article.
Team Stats
WIS 7, RUT 0
WIS - Mellusi,Chez 14 yd run (Larsh,Collin kick), 2 plays, 15 yards, TOP 00:42
WIS 7, RUT 3
RUT - Ambrosio,Valentino 24 yd field goal 10 plays, 68 yards, TOP 04:32
WIS 10, RUT 3
WIS - Larsh,Collin 29 yd field goal 11 plays, 60 yards, TOP 05:19
WIS 17, RUT 3
WIS - Chenal,John 1 yd pass from Mertz,Graham (Larsh,Collin kick) 5 plays, 29 yards, TOP 02:37
WIS 24, RUT 3
WIS - Williams,Caesar 29 yd interception (Larsh,Collin kick)
WIS 31, RUT 3
WIS - Pryor,Kendric 25 yd pass from Mertz,Graham (Larsh,Collin kick) 5 plays, 53 yards, TOP 00:37
WIS 38, RUT 3
WIS - Allen,Braelon 1 yd run (Larsh,Collin kick), 9 plays, 86 yards, TOP 04:49
WIS 45, RUT 3
WIS - Davis III,Danny 72 yd pass from Mertz,Graham (Larsh,Collin kick) 1 plays, 72 yards, TOP 00:14
WIS 52, RUT 3
WIS - Acker,Jackson 18 yd run (Larsh,Collin kick), 6 plays, 82 yards, TOP 03:22
