There are now 10 days left until the beginning of college football. To celebrate this auspicious and great sport I have compiled 10 great moments in MW football history. The rankings aren't necessarily top to bottom, and there are always room for opinions.
This game featured a relatively low scoring total for both teams. Wisconsin had come into this match on a 7-game win streak, the last 3 of those games they won by scores of 83-20, 48-28 and 70-23. TCU on the other hand had relied more on their defense, while still putting up gaudy numbers. They had held opponents to 10 points or less, eight times that season. The oddsmakers had given these teams an even advantage, with TCU opening at a -3 points as a "home field advantage." Still, according to TheSpread.com, over 73% of public bets were placed on Wisconsin (probably to win, but it was still a good move).
Most of the scoring in this game actually happened in the first quarter. Montee Ball started his huge day with a 40-yard run, however, the Badgers could only manage a field goal. TCU immediately responded with at 77-yard drive that had Andy Dalton throwing for 58 yards and rushing for another 19 yards to lead to a Horned Frog touchdown. Wisconsin scored a touchdown their own, with a John Clay run, to make the score 10-7. Poor kickoff coverage led to a Jeremy Kerley 35-yard return. From there, Andy Dalton took to the air and ground again, this time scoring a touchdown using his legs instead of his arm. With the score at 14-10, the first quarter would end, leaving everyone to believe a shootout was about to occur.
That shootout would never come though, as both defenses employed the "bend, don't break" mentality. Heavy yards were given up, but only another Wisky field goal and another TCU touchdown were given up for the rest of the game until 7:32 was left on the clock. Here the Badgers would drive 77 yards, 67 of them through the legs of Montee Ball and John Clay, to score a much needed touchdown. With the gameclock showing 2:00, Bielema had his men line up to go for two. Scott Tolzien took the snap, dropped back and threw...right into the swatting arms of Tank Carder. The 2-point conversion had failed, and TCU recovered the onside kick to rush their way into victory and into history.
Up Next: This team has now shown up twice, and for their third and final trick, quite literally ruin everything in this No. 1 moment in MWC history. This moment ruined a Heisman chance, a National Championship chance, and a 65-game regular season home-game win streak.