Balanced Badgers take care of Akron in 2016 Camp Randall debut

[Da-news-now]

After a big win in Week 1 at Lambeau Field, many wondered if the Wisconsin Badgers would take a step backwards with the Akron Zips coming to Camp Randall Stadium. UW answered those questions in an emphatic manner, taking care of the the visitors 54-10.

Wisconsin got the win thanks to a stifling defense and a balanced offense — rushing for 294 yards and passing for 292 more en route to the blowout win over the Zips. On the flip side, UW’s stingy defense gave up just 224 total yards and held the visitors to just 88 yards of rushing offense in the win.

Senior quarterback Bart Houston continued to showcase a good understanding with his receiving group, and once again had a favorite target on Saturday. Fellow senior, Jazz Peavy, caught a game-high seven passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns in helping the Badgers win their 36th straight home non-conference victory.

Houston ended the game 15 of 22 passing for 231 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Corey Clement carried the load on the ground with 111 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries for the day.

He did all of his damage in the first half before being taken out with a lower left leg injury on what would be his final carry of the day late in the second quarter.

A pair of close-range rushing touchdowns for Clement and a safety against the Zips gave UW a 16-0 lead early in to the second quarter. However, it was a 23-yard strike from Houston to Peavy that really opened the game up as UW went up 23-0.

Clement would wind up with 111 yards on the day, watching the second half from the sideline after being rolled up awkwardly on his last run of the first half.

In his place was Taiwan Deal, who ended the game with just 58 yards on 12 carries.

Akron’s lone touchdown came courtesy of an Anthony Lotti punt that wasn’t hung high enough and returned 55 yards for the score by Jo Jo Natson with 3:12 to play in the first half. UW’s defense would pitch a shoutout in the second half and continue the dominance, giving up just one touchdown and a field goal defensively over the course of two games.

The Zips were hoping that the special teams touchdown was a turing point, but it was far from that. Instead, UW took the ball and calmly marched right down the field on the ensuing drive.

That drive ended with Houston hooking up with Peavy for a 34-yard touchdown pass over the middle for a 30-7 lead.

Akron made it 30-10 thanks to a 32-yard field goal by Tom O’Leary as time expired on the first half.

With the game well in hand in the third quarter, Chryst debuted redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook and a host of secondary players saw meaningful game action as well.

The redshirt freshman QB wasted little time in establishing himself, leading an eight-play, 83-yard drive over 4:22 that ended in a 6-yard touchdown pass to sophomore fullback Alec Ingold.

The Badgers went up 40-10 on the score, but weren’t done racking up points on the scoreboard in the least.

Hornibrook went a perfect 5 of 5 for 61 yards in his collegiate debut, showcasing plenty of potential as Wisconsin’s quarterback of the future. He also showed that he could be the Badgers quarterback of today with those kind of numbers.

Wisconsin didn’t just turn over the keys to the offense to Horinbrook either, as both Taiwan Deal and redshirt freshman Bradrick Shaw saw plenty of action in the second half. That ended with the Badgers frosh scoring on a 35-yard run off right tackle for his first career touchdown and a 54-10 lead for the hosts.

Shaw finished the day as Wisconsin’s second leading rusher, going for 74 yards on just nine carries and the one touchdown. Deal would add 58 yards to the Badgers output on the ground as well.

It was nearly flawless execution for UW, with all three aspects of the game coming in to help get this victory for a second straight week.

The post Balanced Badgers take care of Akron in 2016 Camp Randall debut appeared first on Madtown Badgers.

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