Filed under: Northwestern, Wisconsin, Big 10
MADISON, Wisc. -- In any debate, it's always good to get the last word. The last word is the last impression. If it's a good, memorable one, it'll linger in the minds of the people you are trying to persuade.
Thanks to a three-way tie between Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan State, the Big Ten's Rose Bowl representative will be determined by a vote. Whichever team finishes highest in the final BCS Poll on Dec. 5 will be going to Pasadena. Who should go? Wisconsin got the last word in that debate, and that word was "stomp." The No. 5 Badgers kicked Northwestern to the curb, 70-23, on Saturday.
Seventy points. Again. That's the third time this season the Badgers have scored at least 70. The first, against Austin Peay of the FCS, was expected. The second, an 83-20 squashing of the Indiana Hoosiers, made coach Bret Bielema and his presumed bad sportsmanship fodder for sports talk radio all over the country.
Let me nip this in the bud: Wisconsin did not run up the score on the Wildcats.
Northwestern committed seven turnovers. Wisconsin committed none. Any time a team is plus-seven in turnover margin, it's going to win by a large margin. Some teams would be happy to finish plus-seven on the year.
Bielema took heat after the Indiana game for continuing to throw the ball when Wisconsin's lead was far beyond insurmountable. In this game, the Badgers attempted exactly one pass in the second half. It was a killer, a 40-yard bomb from Scott Tolzien to David Gilreath, but still, it was the only pass attempt of the second half for the Badgers. Bielema also pulled his offensive starters at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/11/27/wisconsin-stomps-northwestern-could-be-smelling-roses/
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