The myth that Wisconsin "stopped running the ball" in the second half

Ive been hearing the notion that if Wisconsin would have continued running the ball in the second half they would have won. I rewatched the game and did not get the impression that they were chucking the ball, so i went back and looked at the play by play. After the opening TD drive, here is what happened.

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1st and 10 at WIS 30 Tanner McEvoy pass incomplete to Sherard Cadogan
2nd and 10 at WIS 30 Corey Clement run for a loss of 1 yard to the Wisc 29
3rd and 11 at WIS 29 Tanner McEvoy run for 6 yds to the Wisc 35
4th and 5 at WIS 35 Drew Meyer punt for 25 yds, punt out-of-bounds at the LSU 40

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3 and out, 2 runs. Wisc still running.

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1st and 10 at WIS 25 Melvin Gordon run for no gain to the Wisc 25
2nd and 10 at WIS 25 Tanner McEvoy pass complete to Reggie Love for 2 yds to the Wisc 27
3rd and 8 at WIS 27 Tanner McEvoy pass complete to Jordan Fredrick for 6 yds to the Wisc 33

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LSU stuffs run. Wisc throw twice to make up for lack of 1st down success.

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1st and 10 at WIS 35 Melvin Gordon run for 3 yds to the Wisc 38
2nd and 7 at WIS 38 WISCONSIN Penalty, False Start (Sam Arneson) to the Wisc 33
2nd and 12 at WIS 33 Tanner McEvoy pass intercepted Jalen Mills return for no gain to the LSU 47

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LSU stops run. Wisc pushes themselves back with penalty. Turnover. Drive over.

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1st and 10 at WIS 25 Corey Clement run for 3 yds to the Wisc 28
2nd and 7 at WIS 28 Corey Clement run for 3 yds to the Wisc 31
3rd and 4 at WIS 31 Corey Clement run for 5 yds to the Wisc 36 for a 1ST down
1st and 10 at WIS 36 Tanner McEvoy pass complete to Austin Traylor for 9 yds to the Wisc 45
2nd and 1 at WIS 45 Corey Clement run for 3 yds to the Wisc 48 for a 1ST down
1st and 10 at WIS 48 Tanner McEvoy pass incomplete to Reggie Love
2nd and 10 at WIS 48 Tanner McEvoy pass incomplete to Kenzel Doe
3rd and 10 at WIS 48 Tanner McEvoy pass intercepted Ronald Martin return for 8 yds to the LSU 31

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Right here is the only point where you could say they got away from the run. FOR 3 PLAYS!

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1st and 10 at WIS 10 Melvin Gordon run for a loss of 2 yards to the Wisc 8 24 28
2nd and 12 at WIS 8 Tanner McEvoy pass incomplete to Sam Arneson
3rd and 12 at WIS 8 Tanner McEvoy pass incomplete to Sam Arneson

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When you lose yards on a first down run, you are going to have to pass to make up for it.

And thats it. Those were the only drives Wisconsin had.



Essentially the real story, and not the box score story, is that LSU started stopping 1st down running success. This forced 3 and outs and interceptions. The same percentage of plays called were runs, there were just not very many Wisconsin plays in the second half. And even fewer successful ones (runs or passes).