Badger Musings: Hornibrook Puts Haters on Notice

As the fourth quarter began in Iowa City, things did not look great for Wisconsin. They trailed by a score, and the offense didn’t really get going for them. Iowa’s bend don’t break defense works itself to perfection throughout most of this game. They put the clams down on Wisconsin through three quarters of play. But Wisconsin would find life in the fourth with a huge touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter then a fb jet sweep to put the game on ice for Wisconsin. Badgers win 28-17 and move up to number 15 and 13 respectively in the college football polls. Badgers get a big conference win to start the year. Alex Hornibrook deserves the game ball.
Hornibrook’s masterful final drive – I hope the people whom chose to hate Wisconsin’s quarterback give him some praise for Saturday. Horibrook engineered a great final drive of the game. He made a key third down conversion finding Garrett Groshek for a first down in the midfield and completed five passes on that drive. He truly mastered the Iowa defense when they needed it the most in this game. Badgers do not win this game if it isn’t for Hornibrook, and that’s a fact.
Badgers surprising three-headed rushing attack – When this season began, I think we all saw Jonathan Taylor was the bellcow of this offense. That’s still the case, but Wisconsin is getting production out of three running backs versus one. Groshek is a great change-of-pace back for this team. He’s dynamic out of the backfield, and he will make a case to be the starter when Taylor likely leaves after next season. Taiwan Deal is a sneaky speedy bruiser. This may cost Taylor the Heisman, but if we’re being real, he’s a distance third behind Kyler Murray and Tua Tagliavia.
Badgers’ outside shot – This is part one of five with Wisconsin having a shot at a playoff appearance. There are other parts. First, you want BYU to stay competitive with Washington this weekend. Second, they will need to win at Michigan in three weeks. Third, they’ll need to pull out a win at Penn State. You almost want the Nittany Lions to take down Ohio State this weekend and set up a playoff play-in game later in the year. Fourth step is the Big Ten Championship game versus likely Ohio State or Penn State. I wouldn’t count out Wisconsin, but things are trending upward.
Next up: Wisconsin gets a week off before they have a home game versus Nebraska. It’s a good thing Nebraska has a game this week because I’d hate to see them come in winless and in search of a victory. They were creamed by Michigan, 56-10, last Saturday, and it appears Scott Forst has some major rebuilding to do.