UW 21, Northwestern 7: Defense is the difference

Evanston, Ill. – Game after game, Wisconsin’s championship-level defense overcomes injuries and the shortcomings of a sputtering offense to help lead Paul Chryst’s team to victory.

That defense showed its mettle and playmaking ability Saturday at Ryan Field as No. 8 UW stayed alive in the race for the Big Ten West Division title with a 21-7 victory over rival Northwestern, which had won the last two meetings and has made a habit of ruining the Badgers’ big moments.

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"They were amazing," said junior wide receiver Jazz Peavy, who contributed big plays on offense and special teams. "Hats off to them. They held it down like they have been all year. It is awesome to see them playing at this level."

STATS: UW-Northwestern box score | Big Ten standings | NCAA scoreboard

The Badgers (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten), who snapped a four-game losing streak at Ryan Field, hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Northwestern (4-5, 3-3), Iowa (5-4, 3-3) and Nebraska (7-2, 4-2) in the West Division.

How good was UW’s defense?

The Badgers stopped Northwestern on fourth-down plays three times, once inside the UW 35 and the second time at the Wildcats’ 41 with 7 minutes 6 seconds left and the Badgers holding the 14-point cushion. The third came at the Northwestern 44 with 2:17 left, ending the Wildcats' final hope. The Wildcats came in converting a modest 39.8% of their third-down chances but were just 5 of 18 Saturday (27.8%) as UW held the ball for 40:25. The Wildcats were held to 18.1 points below their scoring average.

“The game played right into Wisconsin’s hands,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We knew how critical third down was going to be and for us to be 5 of 18 and for them to be at almost 50% tells you the difference in the game.…

“You’ve got to win on third down and we failed at that today."

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Northwestern tailback Justin Jackson, No. 2 in the Big Ten in rushing at 108.5 yards per game, came in averaging 4.4 per carry and 150.5 per game in two games against UW. He was held to 42 yards on 13 carries.

Quarterback Clayton Thorson, a redshirt sophomore, completed just 9 of 20 passes for 60 yards last season in a 13-7 victory over UW. He entered the game Saturday averaging 242.8 passing yards per game with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. Thorson finished 28 of 52 for 277 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked twice. His lost fumble in the final quarter, on a sack by nose tackle Conor Sheehy, led to UW's final score.

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"This defense has meant a ton," Chryst said. "Obviously, they have been giving us chances to win when we’re not putting up a lot of points.

"And I think they also have an energy about them, a confidence that permeates through the whole team."

Northwestern finished with 316 yards of offense on 15 possessions, an average of 21.1 per possession. The Wildcats got 87 of those yards on an eight-play drive late in the first half. They averaged 16.4 yards on the other 14 possessions.

"It was a drive we know weren’t supposed to give up but we did," senior cornerback Sojourn Shelton said. "They made some plays. More power to them. We knew we messed ourselves up more than anything.

"At halftime, the coaches said: 'It happened already. There is nothing you can do about it. The points aren’t going to come off the board. Just stay positive and go out there and make plays.'"

UW got a superlative day from Peavy, more tough yards from tailback Corey Clement, a stellar performance from freshman punter Anthony Lotti  (six of seven punts inside the Northwestern 20) and just enough plays from quarterbacks Alex Hornibrook and Bart Houston.

Peavy, who saw a game-tying touchdown catch overturned by replay in the loss last season to Northwestern, killed the Wildcats. He scored on a 46-yard end-around to help UW take a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. His 24-yard punt return to the Northwestern 32 set up a field goal in the third quarter for a  13-7 lead, and he finished with 144 all-purpose yards – 73 receiving, 46 rushing and 25 on two punt returns.

Clement capped a 45-yard drive after a Northwestern fumble -- the only turnover of the game -- with a 2-yard run. Fullback Alec Ingold added the two-point conversion to give UW a 21-7 lead with 8:57 remaining. Clement finished with 106 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries.

“Those guys are lights out," Clement said of the UW defense. "But we shouldn’t have to depend on those guys to win us the game. We’ve got to take pride and ownership (on offense) in how to finish a game and do it correctly.”

Hornibrook finished 11 of 19 for 92 yards. Houston fired a 32-yard strike to Peavy to set up a 40-yard field goal by Andew Endicott (2 of 4 field-goal attempts) for a 3-0 lead. Houston added a huge 6-yard run to the Northwestern 4 on third and 5 to set up UW’s second touchdown. He finished 2 of 3 for 51 yards.

"I thought our guys competed," Chryst said, "and played together and found a way to get a victory."