The Orange Bowl live blog: Alex Hornibrook has big night as Wisconsin beats Miami

0:00. The Badgers kneel it out and take their second NY6 bowl win in as many years. They are 34-7 since Chryst came back to town.

1:19. Ballgame. Homer can’t handle a Rosier pass, and Connelly collects the third Wisconsin interception.

1:29. Wisconsin moves the chains once and forces Miami to use its final timeouts before giving it back to the Canes with another Lotti punt. All but done here.

4:34. MISSED FIELD GOAL. Yet another freshman making a big play: after two Homer rushes gain 17 yards, Rosier goes deep and finds Jeff Thomas for a 48-yard bomb to the Wisconsin 10.

A Rosier draw doesn’t get much (and Miami doesn’t really know how to bump the tempo up), and a Wildcat keeper by Dallas doesn’t either. On third-and-goal from the 7, Van Ginkel chases down a scrambling Rosier, and Badgley has to attempt another field goal.

He misses it off the upright. That’s ... pretty much the ballgame. Oof. Badgley’s a pretty good kicker, and that was a devastating miss.

7:44. WISCONSIN 34, MIAMI 24. Game’s within three? Put the game in the hands of your star running back quarterback! Hornibrook finds Jonathan Taylor for 13 yards, A.J. Taylor for 24, and Fumagalli for 15 and 12 yards, and it’s first-and-goal. After another short pass to Fumagalli, Hornibrook goes back to the freshman: Davis catches a six-yarder to put Wisconsin up 10 again.

Somehow, Wisconsin ended up with two four-star recruits at receiver, and they’re both playing like four-stars.

11:34. WISCONSIN 27, MIAMI 24. Miami’s found its third-down offense! Rosier makes a nice throw to Cager for 13 yards on third-and-8, then Nick Nelson commits defensive pass interference on a bomb attempt. Miami quickly falls into third-and-13, but Cager makes a huge 14-yard catch to move the chains again. (Cager now has four catches for 76 yards.)

But then Bad Malik shows up again. He’s nearly picked off on first down and has his third-and-6 pass batted down. Badgley comes on for a 41-yard field goal and nails it. Three-point game.

14:45. Hornibrook can’t convert the third-and-11, and Lotti is low and returnable. Berrios takes the ball out to the 29.

0:00. After two Jonathan Taylor carries gain 22 yards, the third quarter ends with two Garrett Groshek carries losing a yard. Third-and-11 coming for the Badgers.

Third quarter yards: Miami 122, UW 73. Back and forth we go.

1:56. Miami over-corrects. The Canes go back to DeeJay Dallas, who gains 11 yards out of the Wildcat. Two more Wildcat rushes are both stuffed, however, and on third-and-10, Rosier’s pass is broken up by Ryan Connelly. Feagles’ punt backs Nick Nelson up to the 15, and he’s tackled at the 24.

3:39. WISCONSIN 27, MIAMI 21. Everybody’s passing all of a sudden. Hornibrook completes passes to Davis for 13 yards and Ramesh for 12, then he scrambles and hits A.J. Taylor for 18 yards on third-and-5.

He nearly finds a well-covered Troy Fumagalli for a touchdown, too, but the star tight end can’t quite hold on. On third-and-long, it’s back to Taylor, but Delaney stops him short of the sticks. Gaglianone makes a 47-yarder look easy. UW’s back up six in this pass-happy contest.

8:48. INTERCEPTION. Richt rides the hot hand and asks Rosier to make some plays. It works out at first — two passes to Braxton Berrios gain 37 yards — but he goes for Cager in the end zone too late, and Tindal picks the ball off. As Brian Griese notes, that was a little greedy. Don’t forget about the run: it kind of carried you early in the game.

Of course...

9:40. Another UW three-and-out. Shaquille Quarterman nearly picks off Hornibrook on first down, then Pryor drops a ball on third down. As announcer Steve Levy notes, this officially sounds like a Miami home crowd now. The plot has twisted dramatically in each quarter.

10:52. WISCONSIN 24, MIAMI 21. Miami’s back in the game. Rosier connects with Mike Harley for a short gain, then scrambles right, baits the safeties, and lobs the ball to a wide open Lawrence Cager for a 38-yard touchdown. Best pass he’s made in a few games, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

11:18. Wisconsin goes three-and-out for the first time since the first quarter. Two Taylor carries gain seven yards, but Chad Thomas drags Hornibrook down on third down. Lotti’s punt goes just 32 yards, and Miami will start at the UW 46. You might not get a better chance than this to get back in the game.

13:12. Miami gets the ball out of the break and immediately goes about trying to establish the run. Homer gains 20 yards on the Canes’ first play, then gains eight more. But he’s stuffed on second-and-2, and Rosier fires woefully off-target on third down (he’s now 3-for-8), and Feagles is out to punt again. It’s fair caught at the UW 13.

Some stats:

More importantly, some second-quarter stats:

The good news is that Miami’s still only down 10. The Canes need to get DeeJay Dallas some more touches quickly, though.

0:00. Homer gains five yards, and Miami goes into the half down 10. Wow, did this game turn. Molly McGrath asks Richt what he was so mad about with the officials. His answer: “If you watch the tape, you’ll see.” Damn. Meanwhile, with the contact he made while arguing with the refs, he’s quite lucky he didn’t get ejected.

0:28. WISCONSIN 24, MIAMI 14. One of the main things that made this Wisconsin team different (read: better) than recent iterations was Hornibrook’s ability to make big throws in key spots. Yes, that resulted in some picks, too, but as the broadcast has mentioned, Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was worried about how good the Badgers were on third-and-long.

Well, on this drive alone, Hornibrook

Of course, Miami head coach Mark Richt felt there was a pretty obvious hold that went uncalled, and he was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

On first-and-goal from the 5, it’s Hornibrook to Davis for another touchdown.

3:59. Oof, another Miami three-and-out. Homer is stuffed on first down, Dayall Harris drops a pass on second down, and Van Ginkel sacks Rosier on third down. Miami now has two yards of offense in the second quarter. Wisconsin will start at its 38 after a 49-yard punt and 10-yard return.

5:49. WISCONSIN 17, MIAMI 14. In the middle of the most Wisconsin drive you’ll ever see — double-digit plays, fullback dives on third-and-short, etc. — Austin Ramesh catches a short pass and then hurdles poor Dee Delaney to work the ball inside the Miami 20.

Then it’s A.J. Taylor’s turn to make a lovely touchdown catch; he snares a 16-yarder in decent coverage, and Wisconsin has the lead again.

Twelve plays, 71 yards, nearly seven minutes of possession.

The Badgers have completely owned this quarter. Yards: 94-4. Time of possession: 7:57-1:14. Hornibrook is 6-for-6 with two touchdowns, Rosier is 1-for-3 with a pick. BUT ... it’s only a three-point game. Miami is staggering but not knocked out.

12:27. Miami needs a spark, and quickly. After a false start, big Olive Sagapolu sacks Rosier, which quickly leads to a three-and-out. A nice punt from Zach Feagles is fair caught at the UW 29, so things could be worse.

13:37. MIAMI 14, WISCONSIN 10. Big night so far for freshmen with lots of Ds in their name. On a third-and-7 from the Miami 20, Hornibrook lobs into coverage, and Danny Davis not only catches the ball but also spins and works the ball inside the pylon for a touchdown. (At least, replay review can’t prove he didn’t get the ball inside the pylon.) Ninety seconds into the second quarter, Wisconsin is right back in this game.

14:56. INTERCEPTION. Break out the turnover cheese curd! Andrew Van Ginkel leaps and snares a Malik Rosier pass at the line of scrimmage and falls forward to the Miami 23. Huge turnover to start the second quarter.

0:00. Two Taylor carries move the chains, but it’s quickly third-and-18 after a short gain, an incompletion, and a holding penalty. Hornibrook is pressured immediately and has to throw another ball away. He’s now 3-for-9 for just 23 yards.

Lotti gets a better kick off, and it’s fair caught at the Miami 33. The first quarter ends with Leon Jacobs stuffing Homer for a loss of five.

2:49. MIAMI 14, WISCONSIN 3. Freshman DeeJay Dallas is your early star. On the second play of Miami’s drive, he bounces to the outside and goes 39 yards for the touchdown. He has 79 yards in five touches, and Miami’s up double digits early.

This is exactly the start Miami wanted after a dud to end the regular season. The Canes averaged just 223 yards over their final two games, and they already have 153 tonight.

3:18. A quick three-and-out. After a holding penalty on the kick return, Wisconsin starts from its own 9. Another Hornibrook bootleg results in an incomplete pass, then Taylor is stuffed for just a yard. On third-and-9, Zach McCloud eats up a dump-off to Rachid Ibrahim, then Anthony Lotti’s punt bounces out of bounds at the Wisconsin 45.

5:21. MIAMI 7, WISCONSIN 3. Miami appears dead set on establishing the run today, and it worked great on the Canes’ second drive. Two Malik Rosier carries gain 25 yards, two DeeJay Dallas carries gain 13 (plus, he takes a short pass 22 yards), and two Homer carries gain 16, and Miami drives 75 yards in seven plays. Homer’s five-yard score gives the home team the lead.

I’m not going to lie: I thought the score might be 7-3 at halftime. I guess technically it still could be.

7:58. WISCONSIN 3, MIAMI 0. With one play, Wisconsin is back to midfield. Taylor gains 14 yards, then Hornibrook hits Kendric Pryor for nine yards on a second-and-7. A draw to Taylor gains another 19 — he’s already over 50 rushing yards six minutes into the game — but after two plays gain two yards, Hornibrook throws a rushed pass into the end zone, and it’s almost picked off by Trajan Bandy. Rafael Gaglianone’s 35-yard field goal is good, though. Wisconsin is on the board first.

11:16. Miami’s first play is great — a 31-yard Travis Homer run. But the Canes’ first drive stalls out from there. Three plays gain two yards, and Michael Badgley’s 53-yard field goal attempt is both wide and very short. Eww. LET’S START THE GAME OVER.

13:11. FUMBLE. Wisconsin starts out at the 34 after a nice Derrick Tindal kick return. The Badgers come out passing, and Alex Hornibrook has to throw the ball away on first down. A.J. Taylor picks up just one yard, and on third-and-9, out of an empty formation, Hornibrook steps up into the pocket and finds Taylor over the middle for 18 yards.

Jonathan Taylor’s first carry is a good one until the end; he gains 14 yards, but a questionable replay review says he fumbled before his knee hit the ground. Not sure about that at all, but Miami ball. Break out the turnover chain.

15:00. Miami wins the toss and, predictably, elects to defer. Let the defense try to make the first statement.

The Wisconsin Badgers rode freshman tailback Jonathan Taylor all the way to the Big Ten title game and the precipice of the College Football Playoff. Can the Badgers glean one more big performance from their young workhorse and cap off one of the best seasons in program history? They’ll get their chance Saturday when Wisconsin faces the Miami Hurricanes in the 2017 Orange Bowl. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m ET and will be broadcast on ESPN (live stream).

Taylor is currently ranked fourth in the nation with 1,847 rushing yards in 13 games, providing the Badgers’ offense with a much-needed boost this fall, but he’ll have to find running room against a Hurricanes defense that’s held opponents to just 3.6 yards per carry this fall. Miami has allowed fewer than 20 points per game, setting the stage for a potential pitchers’ duel in the Sunshine State.

If you’re stuck at home watching the Miami Hurricanes from the comfort of your own couch, you and your friends can try out this Orange Bowl drinking game. I definitely suggest something like Coors Light over tequila or bourbon because we know the TV analysts, especially with bowl games, sit on these banalities as they know less about these teams and we’re far beyond ‘throwing out the records’ in meaningless bowl games.

Wisconsin was even more Wisconsin than Iowa was Wisconsin, with the Badgers hanging out in the 30s (NSD scheduled tweet).

Extra gaps were created and the box was tight. The Badgers ran a split zone action in the back field but it was a play-action pass. The Badgers quarterback, Alex Hornibrook, has an outlet route open to the bottom of the screen but instead chooses to throw the ball deep and into double coverage. He’s turnover prone and boneheaded mistake prone and that could mean the Turnover Chain can redeem itself after a disappointing defensive showing against the Clemson Tigers.

Wisconsin Badgers redshirt junior inside linebacker T.J. Edwards earned a first-team All-America selection by SB Nation, which was released on Tuesday morning.

True freshman running back Jonathan Taylor also claimed a second-team selection, with four other Badgers named as honorable mentions.

The Orange Bowl takes place in South Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium. The Hurricanes play their home games in ... South Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium. While the Badgers will bring their typical cohort of red-clad, outwardly friendly, brandy old fashioned-drinking fans, Miami will have a distinct advantage on what’s meant to be a neutral field. Can it turn that into an upset win?

The Badgers have responded to nearly every test they’ve faced this season — except for a Big Ten title game showdown against the only top-10 team they’ve faced. The Hurricanes, the nation’s 10th-ranked team, will make them 0-2 thanks in part to the aforementioned home field advantage.

Be sure to check out all our bowl predictions here.