GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NCAAF: WISCONSIN (5-0) at ILLINOIS (4-1)

CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Last week, Illinois won withits defense. This week, it won with a punishing ground attack.

Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns on 19carries Saturday as the surprising Fighting Illini ended thenation's longest current winning streak with a 31-26 upset ofNo. 5 Wisconsin.


Illinois (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten Conference) defeated a top-fiveopponent for the first time since 1989, when it posted a 14-13victory at Southern California.


The loss snapped Wisconsin's 14-game winning streak and handedBret Bielema (17-2) only his second defeat as Badgers' coach.

Top-ranked Louisiana State, which hosts Florida on Saturdaynight, now has the nation's longest winning streak at 12 games.

Last week, Illinois forced four turnovers in the second half tohold off Penn State, 27-20. A week later, the Illini wore downthe physical Badgers (5-1, 2-1) by rushing for 289 yards.

Put it together, and Illinois is off to its first 3-0 start inthe Big Ten since 1991.


The Illini have won five straight since a season-opening 40-34loss to Missouri. The five victories surpasses Illinois' wintotal (4-19) from the previous two years combined.

Quarterback Juice Williams complemented Mendenhall in thebackfield by rushing for 92 yards on 14 carries and completing12-of-19 passes for 121 yards and a score.

 

NCAAF: WISCONSIN at ILLINOIS

<div class="pre">NCAAF FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
WISCONSIN (5) 0 6 13 7 26
ILLINOIS 7 10 7 7 31 FINAL

ILLINOIS-TD, R Mendenhall 32 YD RUN (J Reda KICK) 7:41 1st
Qtr
ILLINOIS-FG, J Reda 50 YD 4:10 2nd Qtr
ILLINOIS-TD, R Mendenhall 5 YD PASS FROM J Williams (J
Reda KICK) 7:56 2nd Qtr
WISCONSIN-FG, T Mehlhaff 38 YD 11:08 2nd Qtr
WISCONSIN-FG, T Mehlhaff 26 YD 14:55 2nd Qtr
WISCONSIN-TD, K Jefferson 43 YD PASS FROM T Donovan (T
Mehlhaff KICK) 4:52 3rd Qtr
ILLINOIS-TD, R Mendenhall 5 YD RUN (J Reda KICK) 8:44 3rd
Qtr
WISCONSIN-TD, P Hill 1 YD RUN (TWO-POINT CONVERSION FAILED)
13:30 3rd Qtr
ILLINOIS-TD, E McGee 5 YD RUN (J Reda KICK) 9:32 4th Qtr
WISCONSIN-TD, G Graham 9 YD PASS FROM T Donovan (T Mehlhaff
KICK) 13:29 4th Qtr


WISCONSIN ILLINOIS
First downs 28 18
Rushed-yards 31-127 44-289
Passing yards 392 121
Sacked-yards lost 1-6 2-5
Return yards -7 0
Passes 27-49-2 12-19-0
Punts 3-33.7 5-34.2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 6-45 3-35
Time of possession 34:02 25:58


Individual Statistics

RUSHING: WISCONSIN-P.J. Hill 21-83, Tyler Donovan 6-27, Zach Brown
4-17. ILLINOIS-Rashard Mendenhall 19-160, Juice Williams 14-92, Daniel
Dufrene 3-24, Eddie McGee 3-11, Arrelious Benn 2-5, Brian Gamble 1-1,
- Team 2-MINUS 4.

PASSING: WISCONSIN-Tyler Donovan 27-49-392- 2. ILLINOIS-Juice Williams
12-19-121- 0.

RECEIVING: WISCONSIN-Travis Beckum 11-160, Garrett Graham 5-68, Luke
Swan 4-67, Kyle Jefferson 3-65, P.J. Hill 3-22, David Gilreath 1-10.
ILLINOIS-Arrelious Benn 5-51, Rashard Mendenhall 4-33, Russ Weil 1-31,
DaJuan Warren 1-4, Jacob Willis 1-2.


Att: 57,078</div>

 

CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Last week, Illinois won withits defense. This week, it won with a punishing ground attack.

Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns on 19carries Saturday as the surprising Fighting Illini ended thenation's longest current winning streak with a 31-26 upset ofNo. 5 Wisconsin.


Illinois (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten Conference) defeated a top-fiveopponent for the first time since 1989, when it posted a 14-13victory at Southern California.


"We said in the offseason that if we are going to improve, thenwe have to step up and stand up," said Illinois coach Ron Zook,whose team is off to its first 3-0 start in the Big Ten since1990.


The loss snapped Wisconsin's 14-game winning streak and handedBret Bielema (17-2) only his second defeat as Badgers' coach.It was Wisconsin's first setback since a 27-13 loss at Michiganon September 23 of last season.


Top-ranked Louisiana State, which hosts Florida on Saturdaynight, now has the nation's longest winning streak at 12 games.

"We just have to get ourselves in position to finish the gamethe right way," Bielema said. "We weren't able to come throughtoday."


Last week, Illinois forced four turnovers in the second half tohold off Penn State, 27-20. A week later, the Illini wore downthe physical Badgers (5-1, 2-1) by rushing for 289 yards.

The Illini have won five straight since a season-opening 40-34loss to Missouri. The five victories surpasses Illinois' wintotal (4-19) from the previous two years combined.

"It's a step in the right direction," Illinois linebacker JLeman said. "It's a very fulfilling finish. All the fifth-yearguys have waited a long time for this."


Mendenhall, who entered the weekend as the nation'seighth-leading rusher, is making a name for himself, collecting772 rushing yards in Illinois' first six games.


"With a team like us, we haven't had too much success likethis," Mendenhall said. "We know we can play with anybody."

The combination of Mendenhall and Juice Williams in thebackfield was too much for Wisconsin to handle. Williams rushedfor 92 yards on 14 carries and completed 12-of-19 passes for121 yards and a score.


"I feel great about beating the No. 5 team in the country,"Williams said. "Each and every week, we are just trying tobuild more momentum as we go."


The Badgers have been living dangerously and it finally caughtup to them.


After allowing 564 yards in last week's 37-34 victory overMichigan State, Wisconsin fell behind Illinois, 17-0, midwaythrough the second quarter on Williams' five-yard TD pass toMendenhall.


The Badgers tried to rally behind Tyler Donovan, who completed27-of-50 passes for 391 yards and two TDs.


Wisconsin closed within 24-19 on P.J. Hill's one-yard TD runwith 1:30 left in the third quarter, but Illinois safeties KevinMitchell and Vontae Davis thwarted the comeback attempt withinterceptions on Wisconsin's next two possessions.

"We had two big turnovers," Bielema said. "It got away from(Donovan) a little bit. We need to be clean in all areas."

Illinois put away the contest with a nine-play, 71-yard drive -entirely on the ground - to take a 31-19 lead on backupquarterback Eddie McGhee's five-yard TD scamper.


Wisconsin managed a late score on Donovan's nine-yard TD pass toGarrett Graham with 91 seconds remaining.


Hill, the Big Ten's leading rusher averaging 133 yards per game,was held to 83 yards on 21 carries. He was limited to only 30yards on his first 13 carries.