Somewhere right now, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez has a huge smile plastered across his face, as his program just set the modern era Big Ten rushing record with 644 yards against Bowling Green in a 68-17 win Saturday. The former head coach was at the helm of many great Wisconsin teams, but none achieved what the current group of Badgers did against the Falcons.
It takes a perfect storm for such a mark to be reached, and that's exactly what occurred in Madison. One of the best running backs in the country, Melvin Gordon, had 253 yards and five touchdowns on just 13 carries. Head coach Gary Andersen was pleased to say the least (via Genaro C. Armas of The Associated Press):
The unselfishness of Melvin Gordon ... as we've gone through the first part of the season has been incredible. I'm so proud of the way he's handled it. And today was his day.
Once you let that sink in, consider that quarterback Tanner McEvoy and backup running back Corey Clement combined for another 269 yards and three scores on the ground.
It was one of the most dominant rushing performances in the history of college football, but the standings will simply show Wisconsin at 2-1. The game itself was never in doubt, and the Badgers will now look ahead to playing USF next week and a conference slate after that that can be described as lacking many challenges.
It's hard to see Wisconsin stumbling the rest of the way, at least until Nebraska comes calling Nov. 15.
The only Wisconsin player to average fewer than six yards per carry in the win over the Falcons was George Rushing, a freshman wide receiver who had two carries for eight yards.
As a team, the Badgers averaged 10.7 yards per carry. It even set the school record for total yards with 758 (via SportsCenter). That's going to get it done against anybody. Against Bowling Green, it set a Big Ten rushing record that may not get broken for a very long time.
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