2018 Wisconsin Badgers football team

2018 Wisconsin Badgers football
Pinstripe Bowl champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record8–5 (5–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJoe Rudolph (4th season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJim Leonhard (2nd season)
Base defense3–4
MVPJonathan Taylor
CaptainRyan Connelly
Michael Deiter
D'Cota Dixon
T. J. Edwards
Alex Hornibrook
Alec Ingold
Home stadiumCamp Randall Stadium
Uniform
Seasons
← 2017
2019 →
2018 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 3 Ohio State xy$   8 1     13 1  
No. 14 Michigan x   8 1     10 3  
No. 17 Penn State   6 3     9 4  
Michigan State   5 4     7 6  
Maryland   3 6     5 7  
Indiana   2 7     5 7  
Rutgers   0 9     1 11  
West Division
No. 21 Northwestern xy   8 1     9 5  
Wisconsin   5 4     8 5  
No. 25 Iowa   5 4     9 4  
Purdue   5 4     6 7  
Minnesota   3 6     7 6  
Nebraska   3 6     4 8  
Illinois   2 7     4 8  
Championship: Ohio State 45, Northwestern 24
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Badgers were led by fourth year head coach Paul Chryst and competed as members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

Returning many key players from their Orange Bowl-winning 2017 team, the 2018 team was expected to compete for a Big Ten title and a spot in the College Football Playoff. They were ranked fourth in the pre-season AP Poll, tied for the highest start in school history.[1] In the third game of the year, the Badgers were upset by unranked BYU. Wisconsin ultimately lost four more games during the season, including a loss to rival Minnesota that snapped a Wisconsin 14-game winning streak in the series dating back to 2004. The Badgers were 5–4 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Pinstripe Bowl to play Miami (FL) in a rematch of the 2017 Orange Bowl, where they defeated the Hurricanes once again to finish the season at 8–5.

The Badgers were led offensively by sophomore running back Jonathan Taylor, who led FBS in both rushing yards (2,194) and rushing attempts (307), and was awarded the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back.[2] He became the third Badger player to eclipse the 2,000 yard mark in a single season after Ron Dayne and Melvin Gordon.[3] Taylor was named a consensus first-team All-American, as was offensive lineman Beau Benzschawel. Four members of the offensive line received first-team all-conference honors: Benzschawel, Tyler Biadasz, Michael Deiter, and David Edwards.[4] Quarterback Alex Hornibrook led the team in passing with 1,532 yards and 13 touchdown passes.

  1. ^ Potrykus, Jeff (August 20, 2018). "Badgers ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press preseason top 25". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  2. ^ "2018 College Football Leaders". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  3. ^ "Jonathan Taylor runs for 205 yards in Wisconsin's Pinstripe Bowl victory over Miami". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. December 27, 2018.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference big ten awards was invoked but never defined (see the help page).