The University of Wisconsin Badgers (4-7, 2-6 Big Ten) wrapped up the final home game of the 2025 season with a matchup against the No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini (7-4, 4-4). Following some early back-and-forth, the Badgers eventually ran away with it, winning 27-10 and recording their second ranked win of the season..
As the final home game of the season, Saturday night honored the 31 seniors on the roster, including leading receivers Lance Mason and Vinny Anthony II, starting kicker Nathanial Vakos, offensive linemen Joe Brunner and Riley Mahlman, cornerback Ricardo Hallman, linebackers Mason Reiger and Darryl Peterson III and a host more stars.
“There’s nothing better than sending our seniors out the right way,” head coach Luke Fickell said postgame.
Freshman quarterback Carter Smith started his third-straight game under center, as sophomore quarterback Danny O’Neil and senior Billy Edwards Jr. continued to sit out through injury. Smith continued to develop under center, completing nine of his 11 pass attempts for 75 yards.
Another position that has been decimated by injuries, running back, saw another rotation on Saturday evening. Sophomore Darrion Dupree led the backfield, finishing with a career-high 131 yards on 17 carries, tacking on two touchdowns.
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The Fighting Illini came flying out of the gate on the opening drive, completing back-to-back passes for a combined 32 yards. But, the Badgers’ secondary got wise to the offensive tendencies, as safety Matt Jung appeared to intercept an overshot pass. After a quick booth review, the referees ruled that the ball bounced off of the ground before Jung secured it.
The defense made up for it on the very next play, blowing by the offensive line and securing a sack and fumble, which the offense was able to recover. The hit knocked the Fighting Illini out of field goal range, and allowed the offense to take the field for the first time of the night.
Smith and the Badgers wasted no time to find a rhythm, and despite taking a seven yard sack on the second play of offense, Smith found freshman Eugene Hilton Jr., redshirt junior Tyrell Henry and Mason to go four-for-four passing on the drive.
Dupree and Smith then went to work on the ground, and Wisconsin capped the drive off with a creative end-around rush to Anthony II for a six-yard touchdown.
The Fighting Illini moved the ball down the field well, completing five plays for over 10 yards. At the end of the drive, Illinois set up for a 37-yard field goal, but the kick flew wide to the left, keeping the Badger lead at 7-0.
Following a three-and-out by the Badger offense, the Fighting Illini returned to the field, completing a 24-yard bomb. After a few short rushes, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer kept the ball for himself for a 12-yard touchdown rush, tying the score at seven apiece.
With under a minute remaining in the first half, the Badger offense knew they had one opportunity to put points on the board and take the lead heading into halftime. Redshirt senior Hunter Simmons took the field for the final time of his collegiate career, completing two quick passes to put the Badgers within field goal range.
Vakos lined up for the 47-yard bomb, and took Wisconsin into halftime with a 10-7 lead on a perfect kick.
“Vakos did a great job tonight,” Fickell said. “Those field goals are really big, you miss one of those and it’s a different ballgame.”
Both teams traded punts on their opening drives of the second half, but Wisconsin knew that they needed a big play to take the top off the matchup.
Dupree took the handoff from Smith, and thanks to the parting of the cardinal red sea, found a hole into the secondary. Throwing a stiff arm, Dupree continued flying into Fighting Illini territory, turning on the jets and taking the rush 84 yards to the house.
“I love my [offensive] line, I appreciate them,,” Dupree said. “I might have to get them something, they gave me the opportunity to go score.”
The rush marks the longest play by a Badgers this season, and the longest touchdown play since Chez Mellusi ran 89 yards for a touchdown against Buffalo in Week 1 of 2023.
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The play gave the Badgers the confidence they needed to continue pushing the Fighting Illini, and two drives later, it was the defense’s turn to step up.
After Altmyer completed a 36-yard pass to the right sideline, the Fighting Illini found themselves on the Badgers’ six-yard line and in prime scoring position. But great pass defense, combined with a stuffed rush attempt, held Illinois to a chip shot field goal, keeping the Badgers’ lead at 17-10.
The only group yet to make a high-impact play was the special teams unit, and they decided to come up big with a 14-yard sack on a busted punt attempt, starting the Badgers’ next drive on Illinois’ 14-yard line.
Wisconsin could not squander the scoring opportunity, and Dupree ran his second touchdown in from four yards out, extending the lead to 24-10 and all but securing the win for Wisconsin. Vakos tacked on another field goal from 32 yards to end the game at 27-10.
The Badgers have one more opportunity to add a tally to the ‘win’ column this season, with arguably the most important matchup. Wisconsin will travel to Minneapolis Nov. 29 to take on the Minnesota Gophers in the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe, or the Border Battle rivalry.
The all-time head-to-head record is currently neck-and-neck, as the programs have beaten each other 63 times each since their first-ever matchup in November 1890. In recent years, the Badgers kept a 14-game win streak between 2004-2017, but since then, the rivalry has evened out, with three wins each in the last six matchups.