Badgers use smothering defense, big plays on offense to subdue Maryland

MADISON – Wisconsin’s ascension under interim head coach Jim Leonhard continues.

The Badgers battled off-and-on rain, swirling winds and a talented Maryland team Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.

What was expected to be a tight game turned into a methodical 23-10 victory for UW in front of an announced crowd of 74,057.

The Badgers (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) relied on a defense that smothered Maryland's normally productive offense and big plays from Bobby Engram’s unit to win comfortably.

As a result, the Badgers evened their league mark for the first time this season and climbed above the .500 mark overall for the first time since Week 3, when they were 2-1 after whipping New Mexico State.

They won consecutive games for the first time this season and, perhaps most noteworthy, improved to 3-1 under Leonhard.

"Just very proud of the way our guys handled the bye week and the prep needed to win this game," Leonhard said, "and to come out and play strong early and not get affected by the weather and push through that and really thrive in those situations early in the game. Just really proud of the way they handled a lot of adversity today."

The Terrapins entered the day third in the Big Ten in scoring (34.1 ppg) and total yards (454.4 per game). They saw their record fall to 3-3 in the Big Ten and 6-3 overall because their offense did nothing for most of the day.

UW welcomed back outside linebacker Nick Herbig (knee) and safety Hunter Wohler (leg) and played a 2-4-5, a 3-4-4 and 2-3-6 with three safeties to contain Maryland’s ground game and frustrate quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa came in completing 72.5% of his passes for an average of 285.9 yards per game. He finished 10 of 23 for 77 yards. Wohler intercepted one pass and Tagovailoa had one touchdown pass. That came with 57 seconds left in the game when the Terrapins drove 73 yards in 13 plays with UW leading by 20 points.

Tailbacks Roman Hemby and Antwain Little John II came in averaging a combined 129.2 rushing yards per game.

Hemby rushed 16 times for 66 yards and Maryland finished with 112 yards on 41 carries.

Maryland’s high-powered offense was held to 189 yards on 64 plays, an average of 3.0 yards per play.

"I thought we did a really good job early in the game of getting him on the ground , forcing him into the boundary, getting him to throw the ball away," Leonhard said of Tagovailoa. "Because what happened late in the game is normally what he is doing for four quarters. So we did a great job of containing him and forcing him to make throws and make some tough decisions.

"You had to stop the run first today. You had to control the line of scrimmage and affect the quarterback in the pocket, and we were able it on get that done."

UW built a 17-0 halftime lead in part by limiting Maryland to 56 yards on 28 plays.

With Riley Mahlman making his second start at right tackle, Trey Wedig sliding inside to right guard and Tanor Bortolini making is third start at left guard, UW featured its seventh No. 1 offensive line in nine games. They joined Jack Nelson at left tackle and Joe Tippmann at center.

The new alignment didn't seem to matter.

UW rushed 46 times for 278 yards, an average of 6.0 yards per carry, and two touchdowns against a Maryland defense that came in allowing 3.4 yards per carry and 120.3 rushing yards per game.

"They were maulers today," said quarterback Graham Mertz, limited to 5 of 18 for 77 yards. "They love weather like that. They had fun today."

Tailback Braelon Allen, averaging 123.7 rushing yards in the previous three games, rushed 23 times for 119 yards and a touchdown. His 9-yard touchdown capped a 77-yard drive and gave UW a 7-0 lead late in the opening quarter.

Tailback Isaac Guerendo scored on an 89-yard run to help UW take a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and finished with a college-high 114 yards on 12 carries.

Wide receiver Skyler Bell added 52 yards on three carries.

"We knew it was going to be a run-the-ball type of day," Guerendo said. "Appreciate the O-line for blocking their butts off today. All day, opening up holes."

Most of the opening quarter was dominated by the defenses and the conditions and the teams battled for field position.

UW’s defense had the most impressive stand -- and perhaps most important of the game -- in the opening quarter.

Maryland took over at the UW 37 after a short punt but the Terrapins went four and out as Keeanu Benton sacked Tagovailova for a 6-yard loss on fourth and 8 from UW’s 35.

"I think that’s huge," said Herbig, who had two sacks and three tackles for loss. "That’s a big momentum shift."

UW’s offense finally broke through with a 77-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead with 1:21 left in the quarter.

Mertz hit Chimere Dike for 8 yards to the UW 38 on the third play of the drive to convert a third-and-3 situation.

Bell’s 36-yard run on a jet sweep three plays later moved the ball to the Maryland 28. Allen capped off the 12-play drive later with a 9-yard run over the left side.

The Badgers’ second scoring drive covered 89 yards – on one play and 12 seconds.

UW took over at its 11 after a punt and Guerendo took a handoff from Mertz, picked up blocks from Mahlman and Bell and started down the right sideline.

Dike locked up Maryland defensive back Jakorian Bennett and stayed engaged for 25 yards to help Guerendo navigate the sideline and reach the end zone. Bennett’s effort to get off the block was lackluster but when Nate Van Zelst added the conversion UW had a 14-0 lead with 10:16 left in the half.

"I kind of walled him off and it was tight on the sideline," Dike said of his block. "I was thinking Isaac might cut back but eventually I realized he was trying to take it down the sideline so I just latched (on) and pushed and he was able to do a good job keeping his balance and get into the end zone."

The Badgers’ defense continued to stymie Maryland’s offense and the Badgers added one more score in the final minute of the half.

After Maryland’s sixth punt of the half, UW took over at its 32 with 2:07 left and all three timeouts left.

The Badgers moved to a first and 10 at the Maryland 18 but a first-down pass to Dike was broken up and Mertz was sacked for a 3-yard loss on second down. Mertz appeared to suffer a minor ankle injury on the play and UW called its final timeout with 31 seconds left.

Chase Wolf, who had been out all season because of a knee injury suffered in practice, replaced Mertz. Guerendo got the handoff and tried the left edge but was tacked before he could get out of bounds.

UW’s field-goal unit began sprinting onto the field with about 23 seconds left but Maryland took a timeout with 13 seconds left. Van Zelst then hit the 38-yard field goal for a 17-0 UW lead at the break. Van Zelst hit from 38, 35 and 28 yards and missed from 33.

"I thought the kick to get us up 17 was huge to get that three-score game," Leonhard said.

With how much trouble Maryland was having moving the ball against UW's defense, the 17-point deficit was insurmountable.

UW was 3-1 under Leonhard with three regular-season games left.

"They're playing hard," Leonhard said. "It's clear. It's easy to see, I think, how hard they're playing.

"Still have to eliminate some dumb mistakes that we're making with penalties and mental errors, but that's football. We're going to push to really just attack the last three weeks here of the regular season."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin defense helps Badgers overcome weather, Maryland