EVANSTON, Ill. _ Game after game, Wisconsin's championship-level defense overcomes injuries and the shortcomings of a sputtering offense to help lead Paul Chryst's team to victory.
That defense showed its mettle and playmaking ability Saturday at Ryan Field as No. 8 UW stayed alive in the race for the Big Ten West Division title with a 21-7 victory over rival Northwestern, which had won the last two meetings and has made a habit of ruining the Badgers' big moments.
The Badgers (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) snapped a four-game losing streak at Ryan Field.
UW holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Northwestern (4-5, 3-3) Iowa (5-3, 3-2) and Nebraska (7-1, 4-1).
How good was UW's defense?
The Badgers three times stopped Northwestern on fourth-down plays, once inside the UW 35 and the second time at the Wildcats' 41 with 7 minutes, 6 seconds left and the Badgers holding a 14-point cushion. The third came at the Northwestern 44, with 2:17 left, ending the Wildcats' final hope. The Wildcats came in converting a modest 39.8 percent of their third-down chances, but were just 5 of 18 Saturday (27.8 percent)
Northwestern tailback Justin Jackson, No. 2 in the Big Ten in rushing at 108.5 yards per game, came in averaging 4.4 yards per carry and 150.5 yards per game in two games against UW. He was held to 42 yards on 13 carries.
Quarterback Clayton Thorson, a redshirt sophomore, completed just 9 of 20 passes for 60 yards last season in a 13-7 victory over UW. He entered the game Saturday 242.8 passing yards per game, with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. Thorson finished 27 of 50 for 265 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked twice.
Chryst used Alex Hornibrook and Bart Houston at quarterback Saturday in an attempt to jump-start the offense.
Hornibrook finished 11-of-19 for 92 yards. Houston had a huge 6-yard run to the Northwestern 4 on third-and-5 to set up UW's second touchdown. He finished 2-of-3 for 51 yards.
Corey Clement capped that drive two plays later with a 2-yard run. Fullback Alec Ingold added the two-point conversion to give UW a 21-7 lead with 8:57 remaining.
Clement finished with 106 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries.
UW got the ball after nose tackle Conor Sheehy forced Thorson to fumble. Safety D'Cota Dixon recovered the loose ball and gained 22 yards to the Wildcats' 45 with 13:29 left in the game.
Wide receiver Jazz Peavy, who saw a game-tying touchdown catch overturned by replay in a 13-7 loss last season to Northwestern, destroyed the Wildcats.
Peavy scored on a 46-yard end-around to help UW take a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. His 24-yard punt return to the Northwestern 32 set up a field goal in the third quarter for a 13-7 lead.
Peavy finished with 144 all-purpose yards _ 73 receiving, 46 rushing and 25 on two punt returns.
UW missed a chance to score first in the opening quarter after driving to the Northwestern 16. After two runs by Clement resulted in a loss of a yard, UW faced third and 10. Hornibrook underthrew the ball to Jazz Peavy in the end one. Andrew Endicott then missed to the right from 35 yards, with 5:50 left in the quarter.
Endicott got another chance with 11:11 left in the second quarter and came through this time, from 40 yards to give UW a 3-0 lead.
Houston made the big play on the drive.
Facing third-and-11 from the UW 43, Houston hit Peavy for 32 yards to the Wildcats' 25.
Four plays later, Endicott made Peavy's big catch pay off.
One series later, Peavy made the Wildcats pay.
UW took over at its 32 after a Northwestern punt and moved to the Wildcats; 46 in four plays.
Chryst called for an end-around to Peavy and caught the Wildcats by surprise.
Hornibrook faked a handoff to reserve tailback Bradrick Shaw, who started to the right. Peavy came around from the right side and took the handoff from Hornibrook and had open space around left end.
He followed tackle Ryan Ramczyk, cut inside near the 30 and outran the Northwestern defense to the end zone. Endicott's conversion gave UW a 10-0 lead with 7:33 left in the half.
Northwestern went into the locker room at halftime facing a deficit of only 10-7 because UW's defense and coaching staff failed in the final 1:41.
The Wildcats had a total of 91 yards on 25 plays on their first five possessions.
They drove 87 yards in eight plays for a touchdown to pull within 10-7.
Jackson had a 21-yard run and Thorson had completions of 28 and 13 yards. The 28-yarder, to Garrett Dickerson, came on fourth-and-1 and moved the ball to the UW 13.
Thorson then hit Austin Carr (12 catches, 132 yards) for a touchdown on the next play, with 39 seconds left.
UW took over at its 39 after a squib kick but then wasted at least 10 seconds before calling its first timeout of the half, after moving to its 46-yard line on a 7-yard run by Dare Ogunbowale.
That gaffe contributed to the possession ending with back-to-back incompletions, the second on the final play of the half.
Both teams went three and out on their first offensive possessions of the second half but UW punter Anthony Lotti and Peavy combined to set up the Badgers' third score.
Lotti's 53-yard punt pinned Northwestern at its 3. The defense gave up a total of three yards on three plays and Peavy returned a 50-yard punt 24 yards to the Wildcats' 32.
UW had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Endicott for a 13-7 lead with 8:06 left in the quarter.
That was enough because UW's often impregnable defense was magnificent once more.
