The 2018 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

in the

2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2018. The regular season began on August 25, 2018, and ende ...

. The Badgers were led by fourth year head coach

Paul Chryst Paul Joseph Chryst (born November 17, 1965) is a former American football head coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. Chryst was the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012 to ...

and competed as members of the West Division of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

. They played their home games at

Camp Randall Stadium Camp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. It has been the home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team in rudimentary form since 1895, and as a fully functioning stad ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin b ...

. Returning many key players from their

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

-winning 2017 team, the 2018 team was expected to compete for a Big Ten title and a spot in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

. They were ranked fourth in the pre-season

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broa ...

, tied for the highest start in school history. In the third game of the year, the Badgers were upset by unranked BYU. Wisconsin ultimately lost four more games during the season, including a loss to rival

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

that snapped a Wisconsin 14-game winning streak in the series dating back to 2004. The Badgers were 5–4 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the

Pinstripe Bowl The Pinstripe Bowl is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game that is held at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York City. First played in 2010, the game is organized ...

to play Miami (FL) in a rematch of the 2017 Orange Bowl, where they defeated the Hurricanes once again to finish the season at 8–5. The Badgers were led offensively by sophomore running back Jonathan Taylor, who led

FBS FBS may refer to: People * Frederik Batti Sorring, known as FBS, Indonesian politician Schools * Faith Baptist School (disambiguation) * France Business School, in France * Friern Barnet School, in London * Friends Boys' School, one of two ...

in both rushing yards (2,194) and rushing attempts (307), and was awarded the

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football Lea ...

as the nation's top running back. He became the third Badger player to eclipse the 2,000 yard mark in a single season after

Ron Dayne Ronald Dayne (born March 14, 1978) is a former professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. Dayne played college football for the University of Wisconsin and won the 1999 Heisma ...

and

Melvin Gordon Melvin Gordon III (born April 13, 1993) is an American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin, and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the first roun ...

. Taylor was named a consensus first-team All-American, as was offensive lineman

Beau Benzschawel Beau Benzschawel (born September 10, 1995) is an American football guard who is a free agent. He played college football at Wisconsin and signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He has also played for the Houston Texa ...

. Four members of the offensive line received first-team all-conference honors: Benzschawel, Tyler Biadasz,

Michael Deiter Michael Deiter (born September 3, 1996) is an American football center for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Dolphins in the third round of the 2019 NFL Dr ...

, and David Edwards. Quarterback

Alex Hornibrook Alex Hornibrook is a former American football quarterback. The West Chester, Pennsylvania, native attended Malvern Preparatory School and originally committed to the University of Pittsburgh before attending Wisconsin. On March 10, 2019, Hornibro ...

led the team in passing with 1,532 yards and 13 touchdown passes.

Previous season

The

Badgers Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by th ...

finished the 2017 season 13–1, 9–0 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten West division. They lost to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

in the Big Ten Championship Game 27–21. They received an invitation to the

where they defeated Miami (FL) 34–24. The 13 wins marked the most wins in school history.

Offseason

2018 NFL Draft

Recruiting

The Badgers signed a total of 20 recruits.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Schedule

Wisconsin's 2018 schedule consisted of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Badgers hosted Big Ten opponents

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

, and

and traveled to

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, Northwestern, and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...

, and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. The team's three non–conference games were against the

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers are the athletic teams that represent Western Kentucky University (WKU), located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, competing in the Co ...

from

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

(C-USA),

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999, after leaving the Western Athlet ...

from the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

(MWC), and the

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the West Co ...

, who compete independently in football. Schedule Source:

Personnel

Roster

Position key

Game summaries

Western Kentucky

New Mexico

BYU

at Iowa

Nebraska

at Michigan

Illinois

at Northwestern

Rutgers

at Penn State

at Purdue

Minnesota

vs Miami (FL)–Pinstripe Bowl

Rankings

Awards and honors

Players drafted into the NFL

Signed undrafted free agents

, OL,

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

T. J. Edwards T. J. Edwards (born August 12, 1996) is an American football linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin. High school Edwards played quarterback at Lakes Community High School ...

, LB,

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

* Alec Ingold, FB,

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

References

{{Wisconsin Badgers football navbox

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Wisconsin Badgers football seasons Pinstripe Bowl champion seasons

Wisconsin Badgers football The Wisconsin Badgers football program represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the sport of American football. Wisconsin competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the W ...