Wisconsin football news, notes for Sept. 25

The Wisconsin Badgers continue to turn heads after beating their second Top 10 opponent in the past four games with their 30-6 win over No. 8 Michigan State on Saturday.

The polls will be released later on Sunday, and head coach Paul Chryst and a few players will be on Monday afternoon. B5Q will be there to cover the Monday press conference, but for now, check out these articles from the weekend.

Morning links

Wisconsin might not be exciting, but it's fun to watch

Ivan Maisel, ESPN

Maisel breaks down Wisconsin and its philosophy, both offensively and in terms of recruiting in this piece. It’s a breakdown many Badgers fans probably already know, but worth a read.

The Badgers don't flip the ball to the official and run back to the line of scrimmage. They huddle until the 40-second clock has done half its work. They walk back to the line. And then they move the chains.

In four games their longest gain is 47 yards. They have one run of more than 35 yards. But they hold the ball for 37 minutes per game. They have 12 scoring drives of at least eight plays. In a fast-food world, the Badgers chew up their opponents slowly before they swallow them.

"It's pretty straightforward," senior running back Corey Clement said. "There's not a lot of twists and turns in this offense. Defenses know what we're going to do, and that makes it that much better when you can execute on a higher level."

Hornibrook delivers clutch performance

Benjamin Worgull, BadgerNation.com

The redshirt freshman delivered in his first career start, completing 16-of-26 for 195 yards and one touchdown and interception apiece. Big stat — Hornibrook was 9-of-13 for 136 yards a touchdown on third downs. Six of them moved the chains.

Hornibrook hit Jazz Peavy three times for big gains: 25 yards on third-and-10 on UW’s first scoring drive, for 23 yards on third-and-12 on the second scoring drive and 31 yards on third-and-8 to set up a field goal and a 23-6 lead. That one, said Biegel, sparked the team’s momentum.

“It was fun to watch first hand Alex Hornibrook drop it into tight windows, drop it into the bucket a few times,” he said. “He’s a great player for us. He’s still developing, scratching the surface, but we’re going to need him come down the rest of the season.”

Badgers football notes: Wisconsin's Corey Clement scores two touchdowns, feels '100 percent'

Jason Galloway, Wisconsin State Journal

Clement only ran for 54 yards on 23 carries, but the senior scored two touchdowns in the red zone — something Wisconsin needed.

Clement, who was listed as questionable entering Saturday’s game, said after the victory that he feels 100 percent and knew the entire week he would play in East Lansing.

“I don’t know what they said to the media,” Clement said. “I don’t know why (they listed me as questionable), but I’ve been practicing all week. I was full-go 100 percent all week at practice, so I knew I would go back to normal and get the same reps I normally have.”

Clement missed last week’s game against Georgia State with the injury. He said he probably could have played against the Panthers but that doing so may have slowed him down this week.

Impressive win over Michigan State shows Wisconsin is a Big Ten title contender

Tom Oates, Wisconsin State Journal

Hard to argue with the longtime Madison reporter here:

The Badgers played better than Michigan State and better than just almost anyone not wearing official issue, red-and-white Under Armour gear thought they could. That's especially true when you consider they had a first-time freshman starter at quarterback, a backup kicker who had never attempted a field goal as a collegian and a reshuffled offensive line pitted against a Spartans team that had won 24 of 26 games against Big Ten competition over the last three years and had overrun 18th-ranked Notre Dame the week before.

None of that fazed this UW team. And, as we're finding out, nothing much does faze this UW team.

Notes: Alvarez revels in UW's victory

Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin’s director of athletics was at Spartan Stadium watching his football team dominate Michigan State, and he had some mighty kind words for the 2016 squad.

Alvarez had just watched coach Paul Chryst’s team ignore injuries to several key players; battle for four quarters with a first-time starter at quarterback, playing behind a revamped offensive line; and methodically dismantle No. 8 Michigan State in the teams’ Big Ten opener.

“I was concerned because you need continuity,” Alvarez said after UW’s stunning 30-6 victory Saturday. “You didn’t know who was going to play and to shuffle the offensive line around already and to perform like that against a really good team, a physical team.…

“And the play of your quarterback? He elevated everyone else. That is the thing I saw. The defense continued to play well. And our secondary, I tell you what, those corners challenged some good receivers.

“And when your front can stop the run and your quarterback can move the chains like that, I thought that was the difference in the game.

More links

Badgers football: Quick analysis of Wisconsin's road win at Michigan State, Wisconsin State Journal

Badgers football: Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook ‘calm and collected’ in first start, Wisconsin State Journal

Strong-Willed Unit, BadgerNation.com