PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Wisconsin is starting to play its best football and sending Rutgers in the opposite direction.
Tawee Walker ran for a career-best 198 yards and scored three touchdowns and Wisconsin dominated on both sides of the ball for the second straight week in posting a 42-7 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.
“The team is getting better,” said Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell, whose squad beat Purdue 52-6 last weekend. "And just like I said last week, it’s exciting. It’s exciting, obviously, to win, but it’s exciting to see things continue to grow in front of your own face. And that’s where to me, I’m happy and proud as anything”
Braedyn Locke threw for 240 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another late as the Badgers (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) remained unbeaten against Rutgers (4-2, 1-2) in six meetings and handed the Scarlet Knights their second straight loss.
“I think that we’re playing a high level of complementary football,” said Locke, who was 20 of 28 with an interception on a day the wind gusted to 22 mph. "But I don’t think that we’re at all satisfied. I don’t think that we’re close to the border or our final destination.”
Walker, who previous career high was 146 against Kansas last season when he played for Oklahoma, scored on runs of 2, 9 and 55 yards, the last one being the longest of his career and the team’s longest rush of the season. He has eight touchdowns in the last three games. Darrion Dupree also had a 2-yard TD run as the Badgers outgained Rutgers 549-271.
“I'm so blessed to be behind this line, and this O-line coach (AJ Blazek)," Walker said. “It makes it so much better when guys play hard 100% of the time. It just makes my job so much easier.”
Kyle Monangai, who was stopped on a crucial fourth-down carry at the Wisconsin 10-yard line late in the second quarter, scored on a 13-yard run early in the fourth quarter to deny the Badgers their first shutout since their season opener in 2022.
For the second straight week, Wisconsin built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Locke hit Will Pauling on a 16-yard pass to cap an 89-yard drive. Walker scored on a fourth-down 2-yard run for the other TD.
Monangai, the defending Big Ten rushing champion, was limited to 72 yards. Athan Kaliakmanis was 12 of 32 for 103 yards passing and one interception.
“The team, the whole day, couldn’t chew gum and walk at the same time as a group,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. "We just couldn’t get it going, coaching, playing, everything.
Schiano refused to say Rutgers was backtracking after opening 4-0.
“I’m not ready to sit here in one game and say: 'Oh, ‘the sky is falling.’ You know what, we’ve got work to do, and we’ll do it, and we’ll get back on track."
The takeaway
Wisconsin: The Badgers are suddenly in high gear. They embarrassed Rutgers on the road. There was a crowd of 50,111 at the start of the game at SHI Stadium and the stands were virtually empty when the game ended.
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights came into the game as the favorites and they were awful. They couldn't run the ball. Receivers dropped passes. They had a bad snap on a late field goal attempt in the second quarter. The playcalling was not imaginative and the vaunted defense could not stop the run, allowing 309 on the ground.
“It's unacceptable,” Schiano said. “It falls on me.”
Up next
Wisconsin: At Northwestern Saturday
Rutgers: Plays host to UCLA Saturday.
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