FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES: WISCONSIN 24, ILLINOIS 0

[Jon McNamara]

POSTGAME NOTES
WISCONSIN 24, ILLINOIS 0 ▪ OCT. 9, 2021 ▪ MEMORIAL STADIUM ▪ CHAMPAIGN, ILL.

TEAM NOTES

• Today’s captains: senior TE Jake Ferguson, senior CB Faion Hicks and senior ILB Jack Sanborn.
• Wisconsin has won 11 of its last 12 (and 15 of its last 17) meetings with the Illini.
• The Badgers improved to 33-8 (.805) vs. the Big Ten West since the league moved to its current divisional alignment in 2014.
• Paul Chryst improved to 58-22 (.725) in his seventh season as Wisconsin’s head coach, ranking 4th on UW’s all-time wins list:

WINS AS WISCONSIN COACH, ALL-TIME
Coach (Years) Wins
1. Barry Alvarez (1990-2005)* 119
2. Bret Bielema (2006-12) 68
3. Phil King (1896-1902, ‘05) 65
4. Paul Chryst (2015-present) 58
5. Milt Bruhn (1956-66) 52

* Also served as coach in 2 bowl games (2012, 2014)

• Under Chryst, Wisconsin is:

o 38-15 (.717) in Big Ten Conference play

o 28-7 (.800) vs. the Big Ten West Division

o 21-8 (.724) in road games

o 6-1 (.857) vs. Illinois

• Wisconsin recorded its first shutout since blanking Michigan State, 38-0, on Oct. 12, 2019. The Badgers’ last road shutout of a Big Ten team came in a 31-0 win at Minnesota on Nov. 25, 2017.
• The Badgers out-gained Illinois, 491 to 93, boasting their largest yardage advantage in a Big Ten game (398) since out-gaining Nebraska by 447 yards (627 to 180) on Nov. 15, 2014.
• UW tallied a season-high 391 rushing yards, its most since running for 403 vs. Purdue in 2019 and its most in a Big Ten road game since churning out 546 rushing yards at Indiana on Nov. 10, 2012.

o Wisconsin topped the 300-yard rushing mark for the second time this season (also 352 vs. Eastern Michigan).

o The Badgers posted a season-high 30 first downs, the team’s highest mark since racking up 31 vs. Purdue in 2019.

o UW held the ball for a season high 42:43 to just 17:17 for Illinois. That marks the Badgers’ highest T.O.P. since possessing the ball for 42:47 in a 31-13 loss at Ohio State on Oct. 10, 2009.

• Wisconsin limited Illinois to 93 total yards of offense. The last time the Badgers held a Big Ten foe below 100 total yards came in a 38-14 win over Iowa on Nov. 11, 2017.

o UW held the Illini to just 26 rushing yards and 67 yards passing.

o As a team, the Badgers broke up 10 passes on defense.

• The Badgers opened the game with an 18-play, 67-yard scoring drive that ended with a 25-yard field goal by Collin Larsh. It marked the Badgers’ longest drive of the season in terms of plays, and was their 4th drive of 15-plus plays this season.
• UW added its longest drive of the season in terms of yards — 79 on 14 plays — en route to a 1-yard touchdown run by FB John Chenal in the second quarter to increase its lead to 10-0.
• Wisconsin held the ball for 11:56 of the first quarter, limiting Illinois to just 6 plays run for a net of 3 total yards.
• In Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi, the Badgers had a pair of 100-yard rushers in a game for the first time since Jonathan Taylor (159) and Taiwan Deal (111) topped the century mark vs. Illinois on Oct. 20, 2018.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Junior RB Chez Mellusi ran for a career-high 145 yards on 21 carries, including a 15-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

o Mellusi now has three 100-yard rushing games on the season.

• Freshman RB Braelon Allen set career highs with 131 yards on 18 carries, surpassing his previous bests of 30 yards and 7 carries.

o Allen scored his second-career touchdown on a 23-yard run in the third quarter.

• Senior FB John Chenal ran a career-high 9 times for 28 yards, scoring the 4th rushing touchdown of his career — and 1st of the season — in the second quarter.
• Senior TE Jake Ferguson pulled in 1 pass for 13 yards.

o Ferguson has caught at least one pass in each of his 39 career games, breaking WR Lee Evans’ school record for consecutive games with a catch (38, 1999-2003) and extending the nation’s 3rd-longest active streak:

CONSEC. GAMES WITH RECEPTION, FBS (ACTIVE)
1. Justin Hall, Ball State *48
2. JD Spielman, TCU *40
3. Jake Ferguson, Wisconsin *39
4. Emeka Emezie, NC State (WR) 37
5. Jahan Dotson, Penn State (WR) 34
* Every game played in career

• Senior OLB Noah Burks led UW with 6 tackles, including 1.5 TFLs and 0.5 sack.
• Junior ILB Leo Chenal recorded his first sack of the season — and 5th of his career — by combining with Noah Burks to drop Illinois QB Brandon Peters in the first quarter.
• Senior ILB Jack Sanborn finished with 3 tackles, including his team-leading 6th tackle for loss on the season.
• Sophomore OLB Nick Herbig broke up a career-high 3 passes. He had 2 career PBUs entering the day.
• Senior K Collin Larsh connected on his only field goal try of the day, knocking in a 25-yarder in the first quarter. He is now 7-for-9 on the season and 24-for-34 in his career.

o He also handled kickoffs for the first time in his career.

• Senior P Andy Vujnovich had just 1 punt on the afternoon, booting a 56-yarder. He has now racked up 8 50-yard punts on season after boasting a total of 3 such boots in 7 games last season.