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2010 Wisconsin

11–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Bret Bielema, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 2010, game by game: won at UNLV 41–21; won vs. San José State 27–14; won vs. Arizona State 20–19; won vs. Austin Peay 70–3; lost at No. 24 Michigan State 24–34; won vs. Minnesota 41–23; won vs. No. 1 Ohio State 31–18; won at No. 13 Iowa 31–30; won at Purdue 34–13; won vs. Indiana 83–20; won at Michigan 48–28; won vs. Northwestern 70–23; lost vs. No. 3 TCU 19–21+67−10Won 41–21 at UNLV+20UNLVWon 27–14 vs. San José State+13San José StateWon 20–19 vs. Arizona State+1Arizona StateWon 70–3 vs. Austin Peay+67Austin PeayLost 24–34 at No. 24 Michigan State-10No. 24 Michigan StateWon 41–23 vs. Minnesota+18MinnesotaWon 31–18 vs. No. 1 Ohio State+13No. 1 Ohio StateWon 31–30 at No. 13 Iowa+1No. 13 IowaWon 34–13 at Purdue+21PurdueWon 83–20 vs. Indiana+63IndianaWon 48–28 at Michigan+20MichiganWon 70–23 vs. Northwestern+47NorthwesternLost 19–21 vs. No. 3 TCU-2No. 3 TCU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atUNLVW 41–⁠2165%
Sep 11vsSan José StateW 27–⁠1486%
Sep 18vsArizona StateW 20–⁠1976%
Sep 25vsAustin PeayW 70–⁠393%
Oct 2at24Michigan StateL 24–⁠3450%
Oct 9vsMinnesotaW 41–⁠2379%
Oct 16vs1Ohio StateW 31–⁠1841%
Oct 23at13IowaW 31–⁠3037%
Nov 6atPurdueW 34–⁠1370%
Nov 13vsIndianaW 83–⁠2087%
Nov 20atMichiganW 48–⁠2863%
Nov 27vsNorthwesternW 70–⁠2380%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs3TCURose BowlL 19–⁠2137%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to TCU 21–⁠19 in the Rose Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 11
  4. Wk 4: 11
  5. Wk 5: 11
  6. Wk 6: 20
  7. Wk 7: 18
  8. Wk 8: 10
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 7
  11. Wk 11: 6
  12. Wk 12: 6
  13. Wk 13: 5
  14. Wk 14: 4
  15. Wk 15: 4
  16. Final: 7

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Michigan State

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm AwardScott Tolzien, QB

Outland TrophyGabe Carimi, OT

2 consensus All-AmericansLance Kendricks, TE; Gabe Carimi, OT

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 4
Points
539–⁠267
Coach
Bret Bielema
Elo
1721 +117 this season
SP+ rating
23.1 No. 11 of 120; offense No. 7, defense No. 34, special teams No. 13
SRS
14.0 No. 15 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 46
Offensive coordinator
Paul Chryst
Defensive coordinator
Dave Doeren
Captains
Gabe Carimi, Lance Kendricks, John Moffitt, Culver St. Jean, Scott Tolzien and Jay Valai
Most valuable player
Scott Tolzien and J.J. Watt
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense1st of 120
  • Defense82nd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted1st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted88th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2052%0.891st of 120
Defense0.0741%1.0282nd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.15 off
0.06 def		50% off
41% def		—1st off
88th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 342% allowed
Defense-0.2own 283% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsScott Tolzien QB2,459 yds
Passing touchdownsScott Tolzien QB16 TD
Rushing yardsJames White RB1,052 yds
Rushing touchdownsMontee Ball RB18 TD
Receiving yardsLance Kendricks TE663 yds
Receiving touchdownsLance Kendricks TE5 TD
InterceptionsAntonio Fenelus DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2010 class

Jameson Wright S★★★★No. 220
Beau Allen DT★★★No. 445
Rob Havenstein OG★★★No. 639
Michael Trotter S★★★No. 701
Manasseh Garner ATH★★★No. 928

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2010 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.860
Receivers23.00.850
Offensive line42.80.840
Defensive line43.00.856
Linebackers23.00.833
Defensive backs33.30.873
Athletes and specialists23.00.855
Whole class183.00.852

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2011

The 2011 draft
Rd 1J.J. Watt DEHouston Texans
Rd 1Gabe Carimi OTChicago Bears
Rd 2Lance Kendricks TESt. Louis Rams
Rd 3John Moffitt OGSeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Bill Nagy CDallas Cowboys

Roster 113

The 2010 roster

113 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2010 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2010 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2010 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠112–⁠15
Wisconsin7–⁠111–⁠27
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠214
Iowa4–⁠48–⁠5
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠47–⁠6
Michigan3–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern3–⁠57–⁠6
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Minnesota2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠75–⁠7

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.