NCAAF

Wisconsin upsets No. 6 LSU at Lambeau Field

Jeff Potrykus

USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. — For months, Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst and his players jousted with college football pundits.

Corey Clement celebrates scoring a touchdown.

A daunting schedule that includes five teams ranked in the top 15 of the Amway Coaches Poll? The players were told it was a death march.

The unranked Badgers countered by saying they saw opportunities, not a path toward oblivion.

Opportunity No. 1 of the 2016 season came Saturday at Lambeau Field and Chryst’s players seized it on a national stage with a stunning 16-14 victory in front of an announced crowd of 77,823.

Give game balls to junior kicker Rafael Gaglianone, linebacker Vince Biegel and safety D’Cota Dixon, each of whom made huge plays in the final 3 minutes 47 seconds to overcome a 14-13 deficit.

Gaglianone, wearing No. 27 to honor former Nebraska punter Sam Foltz, who died in a car accident in Waukesha County in July, drilled a 47-yard field goal to give Wisconsin the lead with 3:47 left.

LSU took the ensuing kickoff and drove from its 25 to the Wisconsin 35 but on first and 15 the Tigers turned the ball over for the third and final time.
Biegel came through unblocked and nearly sacked quarterback Brandon Harris.

Harris regained his balance and tried to hit wide receiver D.J. Chark. The ball sailed directly into the arms of Dixon with 57 seconds left.

See the vicious LSU clothesline that marred Wisconsin's celebration

A personal foul on LSU lineman Josh Boutte put the ball at the Wisconsin 47. The Tigers, down to just one timeout, could do nothing but watch the Badgers run out the final seconds and then head to the southwest corner of the stadium to engage in the Lambeau Leap.

Wisconsin overcame three turnovers, including two interceptions by Bart Houston (19 of 31 for 205 yards), largely because its defense under new coordinator Justin Wilcox was magnificent.

LSU was held to 64 yards on 21 plays in the first half, which ended with Wisconsin holding a 6-0 lead.

The Tigers stunned Wisconsin with two touchdowns in a span of 1:07 in the third quarter, the first a 21-yard interception return by cornerback Tre’Davious White, to take a 14-13 lead.

Wisconsin didn’t buckle.

LSU has offense problem, and it seems to be going nowhere

With his team trailing, 14-13, Houston hit 3 of 3 passes for 48 yards on the game-winning drive.

Gaglianone, who hit from 30 and 48 yards earlier, was money on his final kick.

Including the victory Saturday, Wisconsin has won four of its last seven meetings against teams ranked in The Associated Press top five.

However, the previous three victories came against Big Ten teams. The last time Wisconsin defeated an AP top-five team in a nonconference game was in 1974, when the Badgers stunned No. 4 Nebraska, 21-20.

Corey Clement ran hard all game and finished with 86 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

Wisconsin held Leonard Fournette to 35 yards on 11 carries in the first half. The Heisman hopeful finished with 138 yards on 23 carries but didn’t dominate the game and didn’t reach the end zone.

Jeff Potrykus covers Wisconsin athletics for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK.

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