2019 Wisconsin Badgers football team

2019 Wisconsin Badgers football
Big Ten West Division co-champion
Big Ten Championship Game, L 21–34 vs. Ohio State
Rose Bowl, L 27–28 vs. Oregon
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 11
2019 record	10–4 (7–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Paul Chryst (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Rudolph (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Leonhard (3rd season)
Home stadium	Camp Randall Stadium (Capacity: 80,321)
Uniform
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 3 Ohio State xy$^		9	–	0					13	–	1
No. 9 Penn State		7	–	2					11	–	2
No. 18 Michigan		6	–	3					9	–	4
Indiana		5	–	4					8	–	5
Michigan State		4	–	5					7	–	6
Maryland		1	–	8					3	–	9
Rutgers		0	–	9					2	–	10
West Division
No. 11 Wisconsin xy		7	–	2					10	–	4
No. 10 Minnesota x		7	–	2					11	–	2
No. 15 Iowa		6	–	3					10	–	3
Illinois		4	–	5					6	–	7
Purdue		3	–	6					4	–	8
Nebraska		3	–	6					5	–	7
Northwestern		1	–	8					3	–	9
Championship: Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 21
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2019 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Badgers were led by fifth-year head coach Paul Chryst and competed as members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin began the year with six dominating victories, including outscoring their three non-conference opponents 158–0, and beating then-No. 11 Michigan 35–14 in the conference opener. The Badgers rose to sixth in the AP Poll, but suffered their first loss to unranked Illinois, who were 32.5-point underdogs. The next week, Wisconsin lost soundly to Ohio State, 38–7. To close out the regular season, the team beat rival and eighth-ranked Minnesota on the road to secure their place in the Big Ten Championship Game. There, Wisconsin fell to Ohio State a second time, 34–21. They were invited to the Rose Bowl to play Pac-12 Conference champion Oregon, where they lost, 28–27, to end the year with a 10–4 record. It was their fourth Rose Bowl loss in a row, after 3 straight from 2011 to 2013

The Badgers were led on offense by junior running back Jonathan Taylor, who, for the second consecutive year, was the recipient of the Doak Walker Award and was a unanimous All-American. Taylor finished tied atop the Big Ten Conference and third nationally with Ohio State's J. K. Dobbins with 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns. Center Tyler Biadasz was also a unanimous All-American. Quarterback Jack Coan led the passing game, finishing with 2,727 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year. Defensively, the team was led by first-team all-conference linebacker Zack Baun, who led the team with 12.5 sacks.

Previous season[]

The 2018 team started the year at fourth in the pre-season AP Poll, tied for the highest start in school history.^[1] The team finished with a disappointing five regular season losses, and were invited to the Pinstripe Bowl to play Miami (FL) in a rematch of the 2017 Orange Bowl. The Badgers won the rematch and finished the year at 8–5.

Offseason[]

2019 NFL Draft[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
3	78	Michael Deiter	OG	Miami Dolphins
5	143	Ryan Connelly	LB	New York Giants
5	151	Andrew Van Ginkel	LB	Miami Dolphins
5	169	David Edwards	OT	Los Angeles Rams
Undrafted		T. J. Edwards	LB	Philadelphia Eagles
		Alec Ingold	FB	Oakland Raiders

Recruiting[]

Wisconsin signed a total of 19 recruits in the class of 2019.^[2] The class was ranked as the sixth best class in the Big Ten Conference and the 27th best class nationally by the 247Sports Composite,^[2] and was headlined by consensus five-star offensive lineman Logan Brown and four-star quarterback Graham Mertz, who was rated as the best pocket passer in the country by ESPN.^[3] Mertz was named MVP of the high school all-star game the All-American Bowl.^[4]

Preseason[]

Award watch lists[]

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Lott Trophy[5]	Chris Orr	LB	SR
Maxwell Award[6]	Jonathan Taylor	RB	JR
John Mackey Award[7]	Jake Ferguson	TE	SO
Rimington Trophy[8]	Tyler Biadasz	OL	JR
Butkus Award[9]	Zack Baun	OLB	SR
Outland Trophy[10]	Tyler Biadasz	OL	JR
Doak Walker Award[11]	Jonathan Taylor	RB	JR
Walter Camp Award[12]	Jonathan Taylor	RB	JR
Manning Award[13]	Jack Coan	QB	JR

Preseason Big Ten poll[]

Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Wisconsin was projected to finish in third in the West Division.^[14]

Media poll (West Division)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Nebraska	198 (14)
2	Iowa	194.5 (14)
3	Wisconsin	172.5 (4)
4	Northwestern	142.5 (1)
5	Purdue	110.5
6	Minnesota	100 (1)
7	Illinois	34

Schedule[]

Wisconsin's 2019 schedule began with two non-conference home games, first against South Florida of the American Athletic Conference, and then against Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference. Wisconsin's third non-conference game, against Kent State, also of the Mid-American Conference, was played in October.

In Big Ten Conference play, Wisconsin played all members of the West Division, and drew Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State from the East Division.

The Badgers started the season with two shutouts over South Florida and Central Michigan. However, their signature game came against then-No. 11 Michigan in their Big Ten opener, where the Badgers scored 35 unanswered points to start the game before resting the team's starters and allowing two touchdowns from the Wolverines. The team's dominance continued over the next three games, including a shutout victory over Michigan State. In the first six games, Wisconsin only allowed three combined points from the first half (a field goal by Northwestern). Several analysts saw the Badgers as contenders for a spot in the College Football Playoff.^[15][16]

However, a week before the Ohio State game, the Badgers suffered their first loss, as a 31-point favorite, at Illinois on a game-winning field goal. Several experts marked this moment as a downward turning point for the Badgers, as they were not able to recover in time tor the Ohio State game, losing in Columbus as well.^[17]

The Badgers would bounce back, however, with a narrow home victory versus a ranked Iowa, and a blowout win on the road against a top-ten Minnesota. They would then rematch against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game, leading for the first three quarters but falling to a late rally from the Buckeyes.^[18]

As Big Ten runner up, Wisconsin was invited to the 2020 Rose Bowl to play Pac-12 Champion Oregon. The Badgers lost the game by one point.^[19]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30, 2019	6:00 p.m.	at South Florida*	No. 19	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPN	W 49–0	46,704
September 7	2:30 p.m.	Central Michigan*	No. 17	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	BTN	W 61–0	74,437
September 21	11:00 a.m.	No. 11 Michigan	No. 13	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	FOX	W 35–14	80,245
September 28	11:00 a.m.	Northwestern	No. 8	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ABC	W 24–15	76,825
October 5	11:00 a.m.	Kent State*	No. 8	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPNU	W 48–0	74,559
October 12	2:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 8	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	BTN	W 38–0	80,470
October 19	11:00 a.m.	at Illinois	No. 6	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 23–24	37,363
October 26	11:00 a.m.	at No. 3 Ohio State	No. 13	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Big Noon Kickoff)	FOX	L 7–38	102,998
November 9	3:00 p.m.	No. 18 Iowa	No. 13	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (Rivalry)	FOX	W 24–22	78,018
November 16	11:00 a.m.	at Nebraska	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (Rivalry)	BTN	W 37–21	88,842
November 23	3:00 p.m.	Purdue	No. 12	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	FOX	W 45–24	70,747
November 30	2:30 p.m.	at No. 8 Minnesota	No. 12	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN (Paul Bunyan's Axe/College GameDay)	ABC	W 38–17	53,756
December 7	7:00 p.m.	vs. No. 1 Ohio State	No. 8	Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN (Big Ten Championship Game)	FOX	L 21–34	66,649
January 1, 2020	4:00 p.m.	vs. No. 6 Oregon*	No. 8	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	ESPN	L 27–28	90,462
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 5) released prior to game All times are in Central time

Source:^[20]

Roster[]

{{American football roster/Header | year = 2019 | team = Wisconsin Badgers | teamcolors = f | offensive_players = |- | style="text-align:center;" | WR | style="text-align:center;" | 1 | style="text-align:left;" | Aron Cruickshank | style="text-align:center; font-size:90%;" | So |- |- | style="text-align:center;" | QB | style="text-align:center;" | 1 | style="text-align:left;" | Bryson Baxley | style="text-align:center; font-size:90%;" |  Fr |-

| style="vertical-align:top;" |

Head coach

• Paul Chryst (Wisconsin)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

• Joe Rudolph (Wisconsin)
  Associate Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, Offensive Line
  
• Jim Leonhard (Wisconsin)
  Defensive Coordinator, Defensive Backs
  
• Bobby April (Louisiana-Lafayette)
  Outside Linebackers
  
• Bob Bostad (Wisconsin–Stevens Point)
  Inside Linebackers
  
• Inoke Breckterfield (Oregon State)
  Defensive Line
  
• Jon Budmayr (Wisconsin)
  Quarterbacks
  
• Ted Gilmore (Wyoming)
  Offensive Pass Game Coordinator, Wide Receivers
  
• (West Virginia)
  Special Teams
  
• John Settle (Appalachian State)
  Running Backs
  
• (Wisconsin)
  Tight Ends
  
• Ross Kolodziej (Wisconsin)
  Head Strength & Conditioning Coach
  

---

Legend

• (C) Team captain
• (S) Suspended
• (I) Ineligible

• Injured
• Redshirt

---

Roster
Last update: November 19, 2019 |}

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	19	17	14	13-T	8	8	8	6	13	18	16	15	14	13	10	11	11
Coaches	17–T	16	14	14	9	9	8	6	13	17	16	15	14	14	10	11	13
CFP	Not released										13	14	12	12	8	8	Not released

Game summaries[]

at South Florida[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Badgers	7	21	14	7	49
Bulls	0	0	0	0	0

Central Michigan[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	0	0	0	0
No. 17 Badgers	16	28	10	7	61

Michigan[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Wolverines	0	0	8	6	14
No. 13 Badgers	14	14	7	0	35

Northwestern[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	0	0	12	15
No. 8 Badgers	7	0	7	10	24

This was the first game of the season where the Badgers allowed an opponent to score points in the first half.

Kent State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	0	0	0	0	0
No. 8 Badgers	7	21	13	7	48

Michigan State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	0	0	0	0	0
No. 8 Badgers	7	10	0	21	38

Wisconsin became the first FBS team since Oklahoma in 1967 to put up 4 shutouts in its first 6 games after their game against Michigan State.

at Illinois[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Badgers	7	6	7	3	23
Fighting Illini	0	7	7	10	24

No. 6 Wisconsin was upset on the road by unranked Illinois, who took the lead for the first time in the entire game as the clock ran out, with a 39-yard field goal. The loss, along with the loss to Ohio State in the following week, all but ended Wisconsin's national championship hopes.

at Ohio State (regular season)[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Badgers	0	0	7	0	7
No. 3 Buckeyes	0	10	14	14	38

Iowa[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Hawkeyes	3	3	0	16	22
No. 16 Badgers	0	14	7	3	24

at Nebraska[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Badgers	7	20	7	3	37
Cornhuskers	7	7	7	0	21

Purdue[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	3	14	7	0	24
No. 12 Badgers	14	10	14	7	45

at Minnesota[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Badgers	0	10	14	14	38
No. 8 Golden Gophers	7	0	3	7	17

vs. Ohio State (Big Ten Championship Game)[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Buckeyes	0	7	17	10	34
No. 8 Badgers	7	14	0	0	21

This was Wisconsin 3rd rematch in a Big Ten Championship Game. Previously the Badgers played and beat Michigan State in 2011 and Nebraska in 2012 after losing to them in their regular season matchup.

vs. Oregon (Rose Bowl)[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Badgers	10	7	7	3	27
No. 6 Ducks	7	7	7	7	28

Awards and honors[]