Wisconsin and South Florida were tied 3-3 at halftime before the Badgers used yet another strong second half to finish off the Bulls 27-10 on Saturday. Melvin Gordon added 181 yards rushing to his total for the season, but the game did not start out well for Wisconsin or Gordon.

After a three and out for each team, South Florida struck first with Marvin Kloss hitting a 26 yard field goal to make it 3-0. The Badgers sustained a long drive of 13 plays, but only managed a 24 yard field goal from Rafael Gaglianone to tie the game at 3-3.

The second quarter saw South Florida's Mike White intercepted by Derek Landisch to give the Badgers great field position at the 36 yard line. However, the Badgers wound up with several negative plays and ended up punting the ball. Neither team threatened to score until the final minute of the quarter.

On third and two from the South Florida 5 yard line, Melvin Gordon took the carry and was hit by Elkino Watson. Watson forced the ball out and Nate Godwin recovered for South Florida. After not losing a fumble in his career, Gordon has now lost a fumble each of the past two weeks. The first half would end 3-3 and the game had gone far from expected.

The second half would end up being far different from the first half. Wisconsin took their opening drive 75 yards for the touchdown. Gordon ran in from 7 yards out and rolled into the end zone on top of a defender to make it 10-3.

After Kenzel Doe returned a punt 24 yards to the South Florida 43, Gordon would strike again. Gordon took the first down hand off and went right up the middle for a 43 yard touchdown and Wisconsin was on their way to a possible rout. South Florida had other ideas.

They had an extremely quick response with a 4 play, 75 yard drive in less than two minutes to make it a 17-10 ball game. Rodney Adams ran 26 yards for the touchdown and the Bulls were hanging around.

Wisconsin immediately drove back down the field to the one yard line. However, Corey Clement was stopped on third and one and had to settle for a 19 yard field goal from Gaglianone. The third quarter ended with the Badgers leading 20-10.

The fourth quarter started with a big play from South Florida AND Wisconsin. Mike White hit fullback Kennard Swanson on a wheel route up the sideline. Swanson got down to the Wisconsin 10 yard line, but was stripped by Lubern Figaro on the hit. The ball was recovered by Vince Biegel and the small hope South Florida had to pull the upset was extinguished on the following drive by the Badgers. 

The Badgers used a long time consuming drive to put the game out of reach. They went 90 yards on 18 plays and ran 9:33 off the clock to lead 27-10 on Tanner McEvoy's 1 yard touchdown pass to Sam Arneson in the back of the end zone.

Mike White had a decent game for the Bulls. He went 8 of 19 for 173 yards and the one interception. Marlon Mack led the way for the Bulls with 34 yards on 10 carries. Rodney Adams had 33 yards and a touchdown on 2 carries.

Kennard Swanson had 2 catches for 74 yards, but he had the costly fumble at the Wisconsin 10 yard line to start the fourth quarter. Mike McFarland caught 2 passes for 44 yards.

Tanner McEvoy went 11 of 18 for 160 yards and a touchdown through the air. He had 23 yards on 6 carries as well. Gordon led the way with 181 yards and 2 touchdowns on 32 carries. Corey Clement contributed 77 yards on 16 carries.

Alex Erickson is clearly McEvoy's favorite receiver. He caught 6 passes for 91 yards while no other receiver had more than one catch.

South Florida (2-3, 1-0) have a bye next week before facing conference opponent East Carolina on October 11. That figures to be another tall order for the Bulls to win.

Wisconsin (3-1) has finished their non-conference part of their schedule. The begin Big Ten play next week with a road game at Northwestern.

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About the author
Matthew Dixon
I follow College Football at all levels; FBS, FCS, Division II, and Division III. In addition, I am a horse racing enthusiast.