By John Kemmeter

The University of Wisconsin football team had its College Football Playoff hopes take a hit with a loss to BYU Saturday, Sept. 15.

The sixth-ranked Badgers (2-1) had a chance to tie the game late, but senior kicker Rafael Gaglianone’s 42-yard field goal attempt with 36 seconds left went wide left, as BYU escaped with a 24-21 win at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.

Wisconsin took a 7-0 lead with 7:12 to go in the first quarter on a two-yard touchdown run from senior running back Taiwan Deal, while BYU had a three-yard touchdown run with 4:02 left in the first quarter and a 31-yard touchdown pass with 12:17 to play in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead.

Wisconsin senior fullback Alec Ingold scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 1:17 remaining in the second quarter to leave the game tied at 14-14 at halftime, before BYU used a two-yard touchdown run early in the second half to take a 21-14 lead with 9:54 to go in the third quarter.

The Badgers still trailed 21-14 late in the third quarter, when on the second play of the drive, sophomore running back and Amherst Junction native Garrett Groshek took a handoff and ran around the left side of the line behind a pulling block from his former Amherst High School teammate, sophomore center Tyler Biadasz.

Biadasz helped block a pair of defenders and continued to run down the field as Groshek broke a tackle at the Wisconsin 22-yard line and reached midfield, where Groshek was pushed out of bounds at the 50-yard line following a 31-yard run.

Garrett Groshek

Wisconsin went on to score on the drive, as Deal followed Biadasz on a pulling block around the right side of the line for a five-yard touchdown run that tied that game at 21-21 with 12:43 left in the fourth quarter, but BYU answered with a 45-yard field goal on the next drive to take a 24-21 lead with 9:58 to play.

After both teams traded punts, the Badgers had the ball at their own eight-yard line with 3:55 remaining, when Groshek had three touches for 19 yards on the first six plays of the drive as Wisconsin reached the BYU 42-yard line with 1:35 to play, before junior quarterback Alex Hornibrook had a 16-yard run to the BYU 26-yard line.

However, following a two-yard run from Deal and a pair of incomplete passes, Gaglianone missed a 42-yard field goal attempt, and BYU was able to run out the rest of the clock for a 24-21 win.

Biadasz helped block for an offense that finished with 204 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 43 carries, as sophomore running back Jonathan Taylor had 117 yards rushing on 26 carries, while Groshek was second on the Badgers with 45 yards rushing on six carries and caught four passes for 29 yards.

With the loss, Wisconsin dropped to 18th this week in the AP Top 25 and to 16th in the Coaches Poll, while BYU entered this week’s AP Poll at 25th.

The Badgers are set to play at Iowa (3-0) in their Big Ten opener at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, in a game that will be broadcast on Fox.