A long, difficult season had a happy ending for the Wisconsin Badgers as they defeated Oklahoma State Tuesday night 24-17 to win the Guaranteed Rate Bowl at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. It was odd having a brand new Head Coach oversee his first game at the last game of the season but the Luke Fickell era is off to a satisfying start. Fickell, the former University of Cincinnati Head Coach gave way to the holdover staff, led by defensive coordinator and interim coach Jim Leonard who took over for Paul Chryst after he was fired five games into the season. The Badgers also played without a couple of key contributors, quarterback Graham Mertz transferred to Florida and linebacker Nick Herbig with defensive tackle Keeanu Benton bowed out to prepare for the NFL draft.
Wisconsin got a 46 yard field goal on their opening drive to take the lead but then surrendered an 84 yard touchdown pass to fall behind 7-3. That’s when the Badgers revved up the running game and took control outscoring Oklahoma State 21-0 over the middle quarters to take a 24-7 lead into the 4th. Wisconsin rushed for 258 yards, allowing them to control the clock for over 37 minutes. Braelon Allen finished with 116 yards along with a 20 yard touchdown run. Chez Mellusi added 77 yards with a score. Chase Wolf, who threw all of six passes in the regular season, opened at quarterback and finished 16 of 26 for 116 yards with a touchdown pass to tight end Hayden Rucci. He also threw an interception.
The Cowboys rallied with 10 points in the 4th quarter but Cedrick Dort came up with a big interception with three minutes left to snuff out any comeback hopes.
Wisconsin finishes 7-6 by continuing a strong run of success in the post-season, winning 8 of their last 9 bowl games and hopefully the first of many more for Fickell.
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