Field Level Media
Dec 27, 2018
Sophomore Jonathan Taylor rushed for 205 yards and a touchdown as Wisconsin routed Miami 35-3 on Thursday in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Wisconsin's defense forced five turnovers, and the Badgers' offense rushed for 333 yards.
Taylor, the Doak Walker Award-winner as the nation's top running back, averaged 7.6 yards per carry. For the season, Taylor rushed for 2,194 yards. For his two-year career, Taylor has 4,171 yards -- an NCAA record for a sophomore -- and 29 touchdowns.
Wisconsin (8-5) won its fifth consecutive bowl game, including two postseason wins in a row over Miami. The Badgers beat the Hurricanes 34-24 in the Orange Bowl last year.
Miami (7-6) is 1-8 in its past nine bowl games.
The Hurricanes benched quarterback N'Kosi Perry, who had led the team to back-to-back victories. Instead, coach Mark Richt started senior Malik Rosier, who struggled all night, completing just 5 of 12 passes for 46 yards with three interceptions.
Perry was finally inserted into the game with Miami trailing 21-3 late in the third quarter. He didn't fare better, completing 1 of 5 attempts for 2 yards with one interception.
Badgers sophomore quarterback Jack Coan played in place of starter Alex Hornibrook, who was out due to a concussion. Coan led Wisconsin to the win despite completing just 6 of 11 passes for 73 yards with one TD and one interception.
Wisconsin scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, racing to a 14-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
First, the Badgers drove 65 yards on six plays, cashing in on Coan's 35-yard pass to Kendric Pryor, beating Miami on a third-and-9 play.
Rosier's first pass resulted in an interception by safety Eric Burrell, who ran 30 yards to the Miami 7. On the next play, Taylor ran for a touchdown.
Miami, using a 62-yard run by Rosier, cut its second-quarter deficit to 14-3 on a 33-yard field goal by Bubba Baxa.
However, that was as close as it got for the Hurricanes. Wisconsin went up 21-3 in the third quarter on Alec Ingold's 2-yard run. The score was set up by Rosier's third interception of the game, this one by linebacker T.J. Edwards.
The Badgers led 28-3 after Coan's 7-yard bootleg run with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter. Caesar Williams' interception of Perry led to the 34-yard drive.
Taiwan Deal scored on a 1-yard run with eight seconds left for the final margin.
--Field Level Media