For a half, this looked like the slog everybody expected. Wisconsin led 7-3 after 1 quarter, and Rutgers kept pace in the 2nd with its only touchdown. At halftime it was 13-10, a 1-score game, and the Scarlet Knights were right where they'd been against Michigan the week before. It was 48 degrees and clear at kickoff with an 8 mph wind, so the weather didn't affect either passing game.
The 3rd quarter decided it. Wisconsin put up 11 points and Rutgers got 0, and a 3-point game turned into a 24-10 Badgers lead after 3 quarters. Wisconsin added 7 more in the 4th. Rutgers didn't score after halftime, so its offense finished with 10 points, the same 10 it had going into the break.
The defensive story holds up too. Michigan State scored 3 points at Camp Randall and USC scored 7. Rutgers, with Surace at quarterback and Duff out, managed 10, and those all came before halftime. Across Wisconsin's last 3 home games, opponents have scored 20 points combined. The box score we found doesn't have Surace's passing line. The scoreboard does show what kind of day it was: Rutgers was blanked over the final 30 minutes and never threatened in the 2nd half.
Wisconsin is 6-3 and 4-2 in the Big Ten, and it answered a 30-0 shutout at Iowa with its most complete offensive game in a while, all with a freshman at quarterback. Rutgers falls to 2-7 and 1-5 in the conference and has lost 3 straight. The Michigan game looked like a sign of life, but Rutgers was outscored 21-0 after halftime in this one. Wisconsin's quarterback question looks like it has an answer. Rutgers' does not.
