Rutgers “Clunker” Against Wisconsin
In the words of Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano, the Scarlet Knights had a “clunker” against Wisconsin, losing 42-7 on Saturday afternoon at SHI Stadium.
Rutgers was a slight -1.5 point favorite entering the Big Ten contest, but it didn’t take long for Wisconsin to impose its will on the Scarlet Knights, jumping out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and never looked back.
The Badgers gashed Rutgers for 311 yards on the ground with 198 of those yards coming on a career day for senior tailback Tawee Walker. Walker, a transfer from Oklahoma, found the end zone three times on Saturday, including a 55-yard scamper in the fourth quarter that put the game totally out of reach.
Moreover, Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke was deadly accurate. Making his third start in place of senior Tyler Van Dyke, completing 20-of-28 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought we played better defensively a week ago and then certainly not today. Different people. Some different people doing it. But that’s the way of life in the Big Ten,” Head Coach Greg Schiano of his defenses struggles.
Meanwhile Rutgers offense just couldn’t get things figured out. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis had his worst passing performance with Rutgers, completing 12 of 32 passes for 103 yards and an interception.
It didn’t help that Wisconsin’s defense did a tremendous job in slowing down Rutgers running attack, holding star running back Kyle Monangai to 72 yards on 19 carries.
“We have to examine everything, see what we’re doing, who we are doing it with, how we’re teaching it. Didn’t go from being a good player to a poor player. We have to look at where we got off — sometimes you get off the track and you don’t even realize how you got there. So we’ve got to step back and reassess,” Schiano added.
KEY PLAYS
Rutgers did have a couple of opportunities to get back into the game. Kaliakmanis hit a wide open Christian Dremel on a 36-yard out down the sideline to set up shop for Rutgers at the Wisconsin 30. Rutgers would move all the way to the 10-yard line, before Wisconsin stopped Monangai on fourth and one, forcing a turnover on downs.
Later in the first half, Rutgers tried to cash in on a Wisconsin fumble, but Jai Patel’s field attempt was blocked at the line of scrimmage to keep the Badgers in front 14-0.
Next:
Rutgers will host UCLA (1-5) at SHI Stadium on Saturday at 12 noon, in what figures to be a must win for the Scarlet Knights to not only end a two-game skid, but back on track in the Big Ten. We will have live coverage beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Fox Sports Radio New Jersey.