NCAAF Game Recap - Central Michigan at Wisconsin
Sat Sep 7, 2019 3:30 PM EDT

TxAM
10
Clem
24
F
NMS
10
Bama
62
F
Murr
17
UGA
63
F
SD
14
Okla
70
F
Cin
0
OSU
42
F
LSU
45
Tex
38
F
Army
21
Mich
24
F(1OT)
Tul
6
Aub
24
F
UT-M
0
Fla
45
F
NIU
17
Utah
35
F
Cal
20
Wash
19
F
Buff
13
PSU
45
F
NEV
6
Oreg
77
F
C Mi
0
Wisc
61
F
UCF
48
FlAtl
14
F
WestMI
17
MSU
51
F
Rut
0
Iowa
30
F
Syr
20
MD
63
F
NoCol
17
WaSt
59
F
Stan
20
USC
45
F
Marsh
7
Boise
14
F
Neb
31
Colo
34
F OT
Wake
41
Rice
21
F
W&M
17
UVA
52
F
SacSt
7
AzSt
19
F
Ohio
10
Pitt
20
F
(N/A)
23
Kent
26
F
WVU
7
MIZ
38
F
Sou
24
Mem
55
F
BGSU
0
K St
52
F
OD
17
VaTec
31
F
ChaSo
10
SCar
72
F
Vand
24
Purd
42
F
UAB
31
Akr
20
F
WCU
0
NCSt
41
F
SoFL
10
GATec
14
F
Ford
29
Ball
57
F
TnTec
17
MiaOH
48
F
SMiss
15
MissSt
38
F
Gram
14
LT
20
F
SIU
45
UMass
20
F
E Il
0
Ind
52
F
Ill
31
UConn
23
F
Rich
13
BC
45
F
UNCC
41
App
56
F
WIl
13
ColSt
38
F
UTSA
14
Bayl
63
F
SDSU
23
UCLA
14
F
ULMon
44
FlaSt
45
F OT
StFPA
7
JMU
44
F
Maine
18
GaSo
26
F
GWebb
9
ECU
48
F
NCAT
13
Duke
45
F
(N/A)
0
SamHu
77
F
Furm
42
GASt
48
F
Chat
20
JacSt
41
F
Wyo
23
TxSt
14
F
JacSt
14
SoAl
37
F
NorTx
27
SMU
49
F
McNee
14
OkSt
56
F
TnSt
26
MidTN
45
F
CoCar
12
Kans
7
F
BYU
29
Tenn
26
F(1OT)
E Ky
0
Lou
42
F
W Ky
20
FLInt
14
F
Stony
7
UtSt
62
F
Ark
17
Miss
31
F
Lib
14
ULLaf
35
F
E Mi
17
KY
38
F
UTEP
3
TxTch
38
F
PVAM
17
Hou
37
F
MiaFL
25
UNC
28
F
Tuls
34
SJSU
16
F
ArkSt
43
UNLV
17
F
MIN
38
Fres
35
F(1OT)
NoAZ
41
Ariz
65
F
OreSt
28
Hawaii
31
F

Sep 7, 2019, 3:30 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Central Michigan (1-1)

0

0

0

0

0

(17) Wisconsin (2-0)

16

28

10

7

61

Cephus rejoices after scoring twice in No. 17 Wisconsin rout
Sat Sep 7, 2019 9:41 PM

MADISON, Wis. (AP) Quintez Cephus has been through a lot.

The junior wide receiver missed the final five games of Wisconsin's 2017 campaign because of a broken right leg and did not play at all last year after being expelled from school following sexual assault charges.

Cephus was acquitted by a jury last month, reinstated by school officials and was ruled academically eligible for last week's opener at South Florida.

After hauling in only three catches for 39 yards in the Badgers' 49-0 victory last week, the Georgia native finally had his breakout game at Wisconsin.

Cephus scored his first two touchdowns of the season, Jonathan Taylor rushed for three touchdowns and caught another, and No. 17 Wisconsin cruised past Central Michigan 61-0 in its home opener Saturday.

"I think that was just a moment where I realized what God has in store for me," Cephus said of scoring his first touchdown - a 36-yard strike from junior quarterback Jack Coan - at Camp Randall Stadium since the ninth game of the 2017 season. "He's brought me to this point, and to have a little success was a great thing for me."

Cephus finished with six receptions for 130 yards - both career highs - and tied a career high with his two scores.

"I've worked hard to get back here," he said. "I'm just very thankful for the plans that God has had for me, and I'm just living as His son and trusting everything that He has come for."

While Cephus and Wisconsin had 599 yards of total offense, Central Michigan (1-1) managed just 58 yards and three first downs. Chippewas quarterback Quinten Dormady completed 5 of 12 passes for 36 yards and was picked off by Badgers linebacker Jack Sanborn.

"I wish we could have played better, but it is what it is," first-year Central Michigan coach Jim McElwain said.

Taylor had 102 yards on the ground, surpassing the 100-yard rushing mark for the 24th time in 29 career games. The 2018 Doak Walker Award winner also had his third receiving score of the season after having none in his first two seasons with the Badgers.

"He is well-deserving to be in that Heisman race," McElwain said of Taylor. "I really like the way he plays the game. I think he's a good player, and people in the Big Ten are going to have to wrap him up."

Through two games, Wisconsin's defense has pitched two shutouts, forced safety and allowed just 215 total yards and 41 yards rushing, the team's lowest two-game totals since at least 1998.

"Yeah, you love to see the zero on the scoreboard," said senior linebacker Zack Baun, who recorded his second sack in as many games. "That's the goal every week, keeping our opponents to as minimal points as we can. Stopping the run, stopping the pass, or even zero on the scoreboard, you love to see it."

THE TAKEAWAY

After missing Cephus on two deep throws last week in the season opener, Coan found the receiver for a 36-yard score and a 46-yard strike on Saturday. Coan finished 26 of 33 passing with 363 yards (fifth highest in program history) and three touchdowns. He had zero turnovers for a Wisconsin offense that has found a nice rhythm heading into a bye week.

"I think we're going to look back and see things we improved on, and we will have plenty of stuff to work on over the bye week, but Jack did do some good things," Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said. "Defensively, there was a lot, but we will still have a lot to work on."

Central Michigan struggled to get anything going offensively a week after defeating Albany 38-21. Senior running back Jonathan Ward, who ran for 158 yards and two scores last week, went to the locker room early and did not return.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Minimal. The Badgers were a 35-point favorite against the Chippewas, who won just one game a season ago. Wisconsin improved to 17-2 in regular-season nonconference games under Chryst.

FRESHMAN PHENOM

Highly touted Wisconsin freshman quarterback Graham Mertz saw his first action of the season, completing 4 of 5 passes for 35 yards.

"If the circumstances were right, we wanted to get him in, and fortunately they were," Chryst said. "First snaps, first pass, all those things are good to get, and I thought he did some good stuff with it, and it's important."

Mertz can play in up to four games without losing a year of eligibility.

INJURIES

Badgers wide receiver Kendric Pryor left the game with an upper-body injury and did not return.

UP NEXT

Central Michigan: Hosts Akron in its Mid-American opener on Sept. 14.

Wisconsin: Opens Big Ten play against No. 7 Michigan on Sept. 21 at home.

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Follow Keith Jenkins on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MrKeithJenkins

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For more AP college football coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

C Mi Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
Q. Dormady 12 5 41.7 0 36 16 1 14.6
T. Lazzaro 1 1 100.0 0 6 6 0 91.7
Wisc Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Coan 33 26 78.8 3 363 46 0 142.8
G. Mertz 5 4 80.0 0 35 19 0 95.8

Rushing

C Mi Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
T. Lazzaro 4 11 2.8 4 0
L. Nichols III 1 9 9.0 9 0
Wisc Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
J. Taylor 19 102 5.4 20 3
G. Groshek 7 36 5.1 17 1

Receiving

C Mi Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
K. Pimpleton 3 18 6.0 16 0
J. Ward 1 9 9.0 9 0
Wisc Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
Q. Cephus 6 130 21.7 46 2
A. Taylor 7 78 11.1 18 0

Fumbles

Returning

C Mi KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
K. Lewis 2 20.0 0 23 0 0 0
Wisc KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
J. Dunn 0 0 0 5 10.2 0 16
A. Cruickshank 0 0 0 2 7.0 0 13

Punting

C Mi Punt Yds Avg LgPu
B. Buell 9 407 45.2 50
Wisc Punt Yds Avg LgPu
A. Lotti 1 29 29.0 29

Takeaways

Wisc Int Yds InTD
J. Sanborn 1 39 0

Team Stats Comparison

C Mi Wisc
Points For 0 61
Total Yards 58 599
Rushing Yards 15 199
Passing Yards 43 400
Passing Completions / Attempts 9/24 31/39
Turnovers 1 1
Interceptions Thrown 1 0
Fumbles - Lost 1/0 1/1
First Downs 3 37
Penalties - Yards 6/39 1/10
Time Of Possession 33:33 27:27
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 1/14 11/13
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 1/2 0/0
Punts - Average Yards 9/45 1/29

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter C Mi Wisc
Wisc 06:30 TD Jonathan Taylor 4 yd run (Collin Larsh kick) 0 7
Wisc 07:44 SF Team safety 0 9
Wisc 12:01 TD Jonathan Taylor 2 yd run (Collin Larsh kick) 0 16
2nd Quarter C Mi Wisc
Wisc 03:01 TD Jonathan Taylor 17 yd pass from Jack Coan (Collin Larsh kick) 0 23
Wisc 08:22 TD Nakia Watson 3 yd run (Collin Larsh kick) 0 30
Wisc 10:39 TD Quintez Cephus 36 yd pass from Jack Coan (Collin Larsh kick) 0 37
Wisc 13:14 TD Quintez Cephus 46 yd pass from Jack Coan (Collin Larsh kick) 0 44
3rd Quarter C Mi Wisc
Wisc 05:43 FG Collin Larsh 28 yd FG 0 47
Wisc 11:34 TD Jonathan Taylor 2 yd run (Collin Larsh kick) 0 54
4th Quarter C Mi Wisc
Wisc 06:49 TD Garrett Groshek 2 yd run (Collin Larsh kick) 0 61

Game Information

Stadium: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin
Attendance: 74,437
Game Time:
Weather: