MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Danny O'Neil went 23 of 27 for 283 yards with three touchdown passes in his first start for Wisconsin as the Badgers pulled away in the second half to beat Middle Tennessee 42-10 on Saturday.
O'Neil was starting because Billy Edwards Jr. sprained his knee in a 17-0 victory over Miami (Ohio) last week. O'Neil, who started 11 games for San Diego State last season, had taken over after Edwards got hurt early in the second quarter of last week's game.
He was intercepted once and threw touchdown compeltions of 3 yards to Tyrell Henry, 58 yards to Jayden Ballard and 17 yards to Lance Mason, who had seven catches for 102 yards. Henry's touchdown came on fourth-and-goal and put Wisconsin ahead for good in the second quarter.
Middle Tennessee (0-2) kept this game close for 2 1/2 quarters after opening its season with a 34-14 loss to Championship Subdivision program Austin Peay, which hadn’t beaten a Bowl Subdivision team since 1987.
The Blue Raiders trailed 14-10 midway through the third quarter when Jekail Middleton ran for what was initially ruled to be a first down at Wisconsin’s 23. After replays determined Middleton actually went down short of the marker, he got the ball again on fourth down and was stuffed by Christian Alliegro at the 25.
Wisconsin (2-0) then scored touchdowns on four straight drives to put the game away.
Two plays after Alliegro's fourth-down stop, Trech Kekahuna raced untouched for a 61-yard score on a reverse. Vinny Anthony followed with a 14-yard touchdown on an end-around. O'Neil then threw his touchdown passes to Ballard and Mason in the fourth quarter.
O’Neil’s lone turnover came late in the second quarter on a pass that bounced off the body of running back Dilin Jones and got picked off by 301-pound defensive tackle Damonte Smith.
Smith's 9-yard interception return gave Middle Tennessee first-and-10 at the 11 to set up Nicholas Vattiato’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Tipton, which cut Wisconsin's lead to 14-10 just before halftime.
Vattiato was 20 of 31 for 197 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The takeaway
Middle Tennessee: Mistakes and missed opportunities killed the Blue Raiders, who outgained Wisconsin 117-42 in the first quarter. Middle Tennessee had first-and-goal at the 4 on its opening series but settled for a field goal. The Blue Raiders were at Wisconsin's 35 to open the second quarter but ended up punting after a trick play resulted in an intentional grounding penalty on wide receiver Myles Butler. Wisconsin's second touchdown drive was kept alive when Anthony Bynum was penalized for roughing the passer on a third-and-34 incompletion.
Wisconsin: After gaining just 4 yards on its first 15 rushing attempts, the Badgers were much more productive on the ground the rest of the way. But they still aren't getting nearly enough production from their running backs. Kekahuna and Anthony are wide receivers.
Up next
Middle Tennessee is at Nevada and Wisconsin visits No. 21 Alabama on Sept. 13.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
