5 Takeaways From Wisconsin Football Team's 27-13 Win Over South Dakota

MADISON — The Wisconsin football team took care of its results Saturday, but left plenty of room for improvement.

The Badgers beat South Dakota, 27-13, at Camp Randall on Saturday afternoon, holding off a second-half surge by the Coyotes that allowed them to pull within four points midway through the third quarter.

Wisconsin responded, however, with a 50-yard field goal by junior Nathanial Vakos with 5 minutes left in the third quarter and a 1-yard run by senior Chez Mellusi at 7:41 of the fourth to seal the game and improve to 2-0.

Senior quarterback Tyler Van Dyke completed 17 of 27 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Cade Yacamelli rushed for 73 yards on a team-high eight carries. Senior safety Hunter Wohler had a team-high eight tackles.

The next game will be against fourth-ranked Alabama next Saturday at 11 a.m. at Camp Randall Stadium.

Here are five takeaways from the win.

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Badgers find success with red zone running game

Wisconsin led by seven points in the fourth quarter, driving 85 yards on 11 plays for what proved to be the game-sealing score.

UW had three personal foul penalties on the drive, but after getting a first down at the 14, offensive coordinator Phil Longo turned to the ground game to reach the end zone. The Badgers had success running the ball in the red zone last week with Tawee Walker. With Walker sidelined for the day, senior Chez Mellusi made two tough 5-yard runs to set up a first down and goal at the 4.

Three plays later, Mellusi capped the drive with a 1-yard run on fourth-and-1. Nathanial Vakos’ extra point gave UW its final margin of victory.

Mellusi scored for the second straight game and had a solid afternoon, gaining 60 yards on 16 carries.

Tackett Curtis leaves mark in Jake Chaney’s absence

The biggest loss of the day came for the Badgers defense when linebacker Jake Chaney was called for targeting late in the third quarter and ejected.

The good news is that Wisconsin doesn’t appear to be losing anything with the departure. Sophomore linebacker Tackett Curtis finished with five tackles, including four after Chaney left.

UW defense rises to the test against the wall

The Badgers defense found itself in a tough spot midway through the third quarter when Vinny Anthony fumbled a punt that the Coyotes recovered at the UW 8. Things got worse after the targeting call on Chaney gave South Dakota a first-and-goal at the 4.

Wisconsin should be commended for stepping up when it mattered most.

As South Dakota played for a chance to tie the game, the defensive line had its best moment of the afternoon. The unit got a good push on first down, which helped Curtis make a stop for a 3-yard tackle for a loss on first down.

On the next two plays, tackle Ben Barten deflected a pass from South Dakota quarterback Aidan Bourman and Elijah Hills tackled Bourman for an 8-yard loss to force a field goal attempt.

Will Leyland kicked a 32-yard field goal with 5:06 left in the third to cut the Badgers’ lead to 17-13, but it could have ended much worse.

Second TD shows impact of Tyler Van Dyke’s run

Part of Van Dyke’s offseason work has been to get in better shape to impact the game with his runs. The Badgers’ second touchdown exemplified that effort even though the team scored on a 50-yard pass from Van Dyke to C.J. Williams.

Van Dyke faked the pass to Chez Mellusi and then moved to the right side of the formation. The Miami transfer was out of the running game, right? Not so fast. This time, he made a nice easy pass on the run to Williams, but not before completely fooling the cornerback and safety.

Williams caught the ball at the 25-yard line and sprinted into the end zone with 4 minutes, 48 seconds left in the second half.

Cade Yacamelli more than fills the void left by Tawee Walker’s absence

Yacamelli’s strong play in camp was overshadowed by Mellusi and Walker, but on the big stage, the redshirt sophomore delivered.

He ran for 35 yards on four carries again at Western Michigan last week, mostly late in the game. On Saturday, he replaced Walker, who didn’t play because of a leg injury, and ran for 59 yards on seven carries in the first half. That included a 29-yard run, the longest of his career. Three of those runs were for at least five yards.

He finished with eight carries for 73 yards.