GAMEDAY College Football
Wisconsin 35, Georgia Southern 14
By TAMIRA MADSEN
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. - Tanner Mordecai ran for two touchdowns, Braelon Allen added two more and Wisconsin beat Georgia Southern 35-14.
Mordecai finished 19 of 30 for 236 passing yards. He had touchdown runs of 1 and 18 yards for Wisconsin (2-1) in its first meeting against the Eagles.
Mordecai, a SMU transfer, also had seven carries for 36 yards and two touchdowns.
Allen finished with 12 carries for 94 yards and two scores.
Chez Mellusi had 15 carries for 61 yards and one touchdown for Wisconsin.
The Badgers had only 46 rushing yards in the first half. Allen was notably absent for most of the half with 17 yards on four carries in the second quarter.
Tulsa transfer Davis Brin threw two touchdowns for Georgia Southern (2-1). Brin was 33 of 52 for 383 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions through three-plus quarters.
Brin fumbled on a snap in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles their sixth turnover of the game.
Mordecai got the Badgers on the board first as he pulled down a high snap and ran 1 yard for the touchdown at 14 minutes, 18 seconds of the second quarter.
The Eagles evened the score at 7 less than two minutes later on a 4-yard touchdown run by OJ Arnold.
The highlight on Georgia Southern’s first scoring drive was a 68-yard pass to the 4-yard line from Brin to Derwin Burgess Jr.
Wisconsin had three interceptions in the first half but failed to score on all three Eagles’ picks.
Georgia Southern’s Chase Folser missed a 48-yard field goal attempt with 2 seconds left in the first half that would’ve given the Eagles the lead.
The Eagles took a 14-7 lead as Jjay McAfee caught a 25-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter.
Allen got going with a 4-yard touchdown that tied the score at 14 at 10:53 of the third.
The game marked a turnaround for Wisconsin after last week’s 31-14 loss at Washington State. The Cougars held the Badgers’ running back duo of Mellusi and Allen to 69 yards on 19 carries.
THE TAKEAWAY
Georgia Southern: Davis shows flashes of confidence, and has many options on offense in Derwin Burgess Jr., Dalen Cobb and Jjay Mcafee but throwing five picks eliminated any Eagles’ momentum.
Wisconsin: Hunter Wohler had a standout performance on defense. Wohler, a safety, had 10 tackles (six solo), two interceptions, a sack and a tackle for loss.
September 16, 2023
| Scoring Summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Quarter | GaSo | Wisc | |||
| Wisc | TD | 14:18 | Tanner Mordecai 1 yd run (Nathanial Vakos kick) | 0 | 7 |
| GaSo | TD | 12:11 | OJ Arnold 4 yd run (Michael Lantz kick) | 7 | 7 |
| Third Quarter | GaSo | Wisc | |||
| GaSo | TD | 12:33 | Jjay Mcafee 25 yd pass from Davis Brin (Michael Lantz kick) | 14 | 7 |
| Wisc | TD | 10:53 | Braelon Allen 4 yd run (Nathanial Vakos kick) | 14 | 14 |
| Wisc | TD | 7:40 | Tanner Mordecai 18 yd run (Nathanial Vakos kick) | 14 | 21 |
| Wisc | TD | 0:39 | Braelon Allen 2 yd run (Nathanial Vakos kick) | 14 | 28 |
| Fourth Quarter | GaSo | Wisc | |||
| Wisc | TD | 5:51 | Chez Mellusi 1 yd run (Nathanial Vakos kick) | 14 | 35 |
| Team Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Georgia Southern | Wisconsin | |
| First downs | 23 | 22 |
| Rushing | 5 | 9 |
| Passing | 15 | 13 |
| Penalty | 3 | 0 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency | 9-17, 53% | 3-11, 27% |
| 4th down efficiency | 0-1, 0% | 0-1, 0% |
| Rushes-Yards | 28-72 | 38-207 |
| Passing Yards | 383 | 244 |
| Return Yards | 89 | 46 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 33-52-5 | 20-31-0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 6--29 | 1--4 |
| Punts | 3 | 6 |
| Punts-Average | 36.3 | 42.3 |
| Fumbles Lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties - Yards | 5-40 | 8-88 |
| Time of Possession | 31:23 | 28:37 |
| Georgia Southern Passing | |||||
| Player | Cmp | Att | Yds | TDs | Int |
| D. Brin | 33 | 52 | 383 | 1 | 5 |
| Wisconsin Passing | |||||
| Player | Cmp | Att | Yds | TDs | Int |
| T. Mordecai | 19 | 30 | 236 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Locke | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia Southern Rushing | ||||
| Player | Carries | Yds | Avg | TDs |
| O. Arnold | 10 | 66 | 6.6 | 1 |
| J. White | 4 | 19 | 4.8 | 0 |
| J. French | 4 | 10 | 2.5 | 0 |
| T. Gibbs | 3 | -1 | -0.3 | 0 |
| D. Brin | 7 | -22 | -3.1 | 0 |
| Wisconsin Rushing | ||||
| Player | Carries | Yds | Avg | TDs |
| B. Allen | 12 | 94 | 7.8 | 2 |
| C. Mellusi | 15 | 61 | 4.1 | 1 |
| T. Mordecai | 7 | 36 | 5.1 | 2 |
| J. Acker | 4 | 16 | 4.0 | 0 |
| Georgia Southern Receiving | ||||
| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TDs |
| D. Burgess Jr. | 8 | 124 | 15.5 | 0 |
| K. Hood | 7 | 61 | 8.7 | 0 |
| J. Thompson | 1 | 41 | 41.0 | 0 |
| D. Cobb | 3 | 40 | 13.3 | 0 |
| J. Mcafee | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 1 |
| A. Queeley | 3 | 24 | 8.0 | 0 |
| K. Upshaw | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 0 |
| O. Arnold | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 |
| K. Dorsey | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 |
| B. Johnson | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 |
| D. Mbadinga | 1 | 0 | 0.0 |
0 |
| J. White | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin Receiving | ||||
| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TDs |
| C. Dike | 3 | 57 | 19.0 | 0 |
| H. Rucci | 2 | 51 | 25.5 | 0 |
| S. Bell | 5 | 47 | 9.4 | 0 |
| T. Ashcraft | 2 | 32 | 16.0 | 0 |
| W. Pauling | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 |
| C. Williams | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 |
| C. Mellusi | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 |
| H. Anderson | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 |
| B. Allen | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 |
| Georgia Southern Interceptions | ||
| Player | Int | Yards |
| Wisconsin Interceptions | ||
| Player | Int | Yards |
| H. Wohler | 2 | 0 |
| J. Maitre | 1 | 19 |
| R. Hallman | 1 | 0 |
| C. Goetz | 1 | 0 |
| Georgia Southern Punting | |||
| Player | Punts | Yards | Avg |
| A. Smith | 3 | 109 | 36.3 |
| Wisconsin Punting | |||
| Player | Punts | Yards | Avg |
| A. Bertrams | 6 | 254 | 42.3 |
| Georgia Southern Punt Returns | |||
| Player | Ret | Yards | Average |
| K. Hood | 1 | 2 | 2.0 |
| Wisconsin Punt Returns | |||
| Player | Ret | Yards | Average |
| C. Dike | 1 | 3 | 3.0 |
| Georgia Southern Kick Returns | |||
| Player | Ret | Yards | Average |
| D. Cobb | 4 | 87 | 21.8 |
| Wisconsin Kick Returns | |||
| Player | Ret | Yards | Average |
| C. Dike | 1 | 24 | 24.0 |
| Georgia Southern Missed FG | |
| Player | Length |
| M. Lantz | 48 |
| Wisconsin Missed FG | |
| Player | Length |
