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Wisconsin upsets No. 8 Michigan State 30-6

Make that two wins over Top 10 teams in four games.

Wisconsin v Michigan State Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images

With a variety of injuries hobbling key players, the No. 11/No. 10 Wisconsin Badgers faced an uphill challenge heading into their conference opener.

They decided to upset the No. 8 team in the nation anyway.

Wisconsin’s defense forced four turnovers and held the Michigan State offense to two field goals in a 30-6 victory in East Lansing on Saturday.

UW capitalized on those turnovers, converting them into 13 points—most notably redshirt senior safety Leo Musso’s 66-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Justin Wilcox’s defense also held the Spartans to 4-of-13 on third down attempts and sacked quarterback Tyler O’Connor four times. Two of those were by redshirt junior T.J. Watt.

Redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook, in his first career start, finished the day 16-of-26 for 195 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. He made some key passes to move the chains on third down, and the Badgers converted 7-of-16 in that area.

Wisconsin also succeeded in the red zone, converting on all three attempts. Senior running back Corey Clement ran for 54 yards and two touchdowns despite being questionable for the game with an ankle injury.

The Badgers now have beaten two Top-10 teams in their first four games. They face No. 4 Michigan next Saturday at Ann Arbor.

More from B5Q coming up.