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After moving up to that spot in both polls this week, the University of Wisconsin football team almost suffered the same fate as Michigan, the team it replaced.
It took Tyler Donovan’s thrilling 29-yard touchdown run on a naked bootleg with 1 minute, 53 seconds remaining for the Badgers to escape with a 20-13 victory over UNLV at Sam Boyd Stadium.
The fleet-footed Donovan capped a 61-yard scoring drive by faking a handoff to tailback P.J. Hill, who was going to the right. The only defender anywhere near Donovan was linebacker Starr Fuimaono, who could only dive futiely at his legs.
UW receiver Luke Swan threw a great block, holding up defensive back Geoffery Howard with a lengthy block at the 15, allowing Donovan to race by. Donovan then dove for the end zone, hitting the pylon with the football. The play was challenged by UNLV but the touchdown stood and the Badgers (2-0) had narrowly escaped with a hard-fought win.
Donovan’s pass to Swan for a 2-point conversion accounted for the final margin. The drive was set up by freshman David Gilreath’s kickoff return to the 39-yard line, barreling into UW coach Bret Bielema on the sidelines.
UNLV (0-2) had taken a 13-12 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Sergio Aguayo with 7:43 remaining in a see-saw fourth quarter.
The Rebels, who were stopped on a fourth-and-1 in the first half, got all the momentum going their way after stopping the Badgers in the same situation in the third quarter.
UW was having success running Hill inside, but elected to run an option to the right. After Hill got the pitch, safety Tony Cade hit him low and then linebackers K.C. Asiodu and Beau Bell finished him off.
After that UNLV took a 10-9 lead on a 25-yard field goal by Aguayo. The Badgers responded when defensive end Matt Shaughnessy put pressure on redshirt freshman quarterback Travis Dixon, who made one of his few poor decisions of the game.
Dixon sailed a pass over the head of Casey Flair and free safety Shane Carter picked it off and returned it 32 yards to the UNLV 39.
Taylor Mehlhalff booted a 51-yard field goal to put the Badgers ahead 12-10 with 12:22 left in the game. The excitement was far from over at that point.
The culprit, in the near upset, was an athletic quarterback running a dangerous spread option offense, just like for Appalachian State, which defeated Michigan last week.
Dixon took the Rebels down to the UW 18, where Aguayo booted the field goal to give them the lead again.
On the game-winning drive, Donovan cooly converted a third-and-2, with a 6-yard completion to Swan. The Badgers also picked up a fourth-and-1 on a 3-yard run by Hill up the middle.
After a relatively clean opener, UW stumbled through a first half filled with key penalties, dropped passes and a botched extra-point attempt when holder Ken DeBauche bobbled the snap.
UNLV, meanwhile, pulled out all the stops. The Rebels ran a hook-and-lateral play, which picked up only 2 yards, in the second quarter, then went for it later in the quarter on fourth-and-1 from the UW 18-yard line, which failed.
Taylor Mehlhaff’s 27-yard field goal on the final play of the half gave the Badgers a 9-7 lead. It was the 11th time in the last 14 games that the Badgers scored points in the final two minutes of the first half.
But even that 81-yard drive, like most of the first half, was ugly. The Badgers overcame two penalties, illegal procedure on guard Kraig Urbik and a block-in-the-back on tailback P.J. Hill when quarterback Tyler Donovan tried to scramble clear across the field.
The drive might have ended in a touchdown, but normally sure-handed receiver Luke Swan dropped a pass at the 2 in the final 30 seconds, after Donovan stayed in the pocket and took a shot from defensive end Jeremy Geathers. Swan did have two catches for 34 yards in the drive.
An aggressive call by offensive coordinator Paul Chryst on third-and-1, from UW’s 18, got the drive going, with Donovan rolling to his right, then throwing to tight end Travis Beckum, who made a sliding grab for a 24-yard gain.
For the second week in a row, UW’s opponent scored first. The Rebels converted five third downs on the drive with the help of elusive redshirt freshman quarterback Travis Dixon, making his second start.
That included a 3-and-14 in which Dixon ran to his right, eluded a tackler and found Casey Flair for a 21-yard completion to the 6. Cornerback Allen Langford had tight coverage on Flair in the back of the end zone on third-and-goal from the 5, but Dixon made a perfect throw for the score.
The Badgers answered with a touchdown on their next possession, which they also did three times in the opener, following touchdowns by Washington State.
Donovan held the ball just long enough against a blitzing cornerback to allow Graham to get wide open. The ball was to the wrong side of Graham, who spun completely around and made the catch for a 3-yard TD reception.
The best moment for UW’s defense came on back-to-back short-yardage plays before halftime. First, defensive tackle Nick Hayden timed the snap perfectly and shot through to hold Dixon to no gain on third-and-1.
On fourth-and-1, defensive tackle Jason Chapman shot in low, forcing Dixon to step back while running to his right, and linebacker Elijah Hodge cleaned up for a 1-yard loss.
