Wisconsin entered last season's Big Ten Championship Game with a shot at winning the conference and earning a shot in the College Football Playoff. With star running back Jonathan Taylor, quarterback Alex Hornibrook and stars littering both lines of scrimmage, thoughts of another fall filled with playoff hopes swirled around Madison all offseason.
After Saturday's clunker against BYU, those hopes are gone.
Wisconsin kicker Rafael Gaglianone missed a 42-yard field goal with 41 seconds left to send No. 6 Wisconsin to a 24-21 loss at Camp Randall Stadium. With a loss to unranked BYU on its resume, Wisconsin will need a ton of luck to get back in the mix in November.
Hornibrook threw for just 190 yards, didn't throw a touchdown and tossed a pick on his own 27-yard line early in the third quarter that led to a BYU touchdown to extend the lead to 21-14. When the Badgers needed the offense to crank it up in the second half in an effort to get back in the game, the Cougars defense held strong against Taylor and Hornibrook couldn't get it done through the air.
Looking ahead, the schedule won't do the Badgers any favors based on how things look after Week 3. Nebraska fell to 0-2 Saturday afternoon, Michigan already has a loss to Notre Dame on its resume and the road trip to Penn State on No. 10 is the only spot for the Badgers to make waves on the national scene unless massive chaos ensues.
With the win, BYU improves to 2-1 on the young season. It's BYU's first road win over a top-10 team since 1984 -- when they beat No. 3 Pitt to open what would be an undefeated, national championship season.
