When looking at the final score of 59-24, it is difficult to remember that Nebraska had a 17-3 lead in this game. It was that way shortly into the third quarter, as the blackshirt defense of the Cornhuskers had forced a few turnovers and were able to take advantage of them putting some points on the board early in the game. But then the Melvin Gordon show began.
Gordon was simply amazing in this game, and his statistics look better than video games numbers. Reviewing the box score, it is almost hard to believe that on 25 carries, Gordon rushed for 408 yards, breaking the FBS record for yards in a game previously held by LaDainian Tomlinson (406 when he was at TCU). Not only did he get all of those yards, but he got 4 touchdowns as well. Effective in every area of the field. Oddly enough though, he lost 2 fumbles in this game or he could have had an even better day. This is a day that Gordon and many Badger fans will not soon forget as he rushed everywhere while leading the Badgers to a complete victory and into first place in the Big 10 West. The other thing to note is that the Badgers held Nebraska to only 180 yards of offense, and again made them look completely awful in a big game.
This has to make Nebraska fans once again wonder if Bo Pelini is still the right man for the job. Both times Nebraska has been on National stages on ABC they have lost, first to Michigan State where they were embarrassed early on and tried to stage a late comeback, and then in Saturday's game when they were trounced again by a Wisconsin Badger team. This is the third time since Nebraska has been in the Big 10 that the Badgers have completely ruled the Huskers. They lost 24-59 today, 31-70 in the 2012 Big 10 Championship, and 17-48 at Camp Randall Stadium in the regular season. That doesn't even mention some of the other blowouts that Nebraska has seen in recent years, like when they played Ohio State in 2012 and Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes crushed them 38-63. Will the embarrassing losses ever stop. Bo Pelini is supposed to be a defense coach yet his teams repeatedly get blown out of games when playing similarly talented teams. It's a question that will most likely get discussed more in the off-season.
The Wisconsin Badgers (8-2, 5-1) will now head to Iowa City, Iowa next week to face the Hawkeyes. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-2, 4-2) will head back home to face another strong rushing attack in the Minnesota Golden Gophers.