The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Wisconsin Badgers will compete for holiday cheer in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl Tuesday at 10:15 PM ET at Chase Field. Both teams lost their previous games, so they have plenty of motivation to get the ‘W’.
Oklahoma State entered the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers four weeks ago without a home loss, but it’s all new. The Cowboys were close but couldn’t close the gap as he lost 24-19 to West Virginia. Oklahoma State’s silver lining was the play of RB Ollie Gordon. He rushed out his 1 TD and on 17 carries he gained 136 yards.
Wisconsin suffered a bitter loss four weeks ago when they failed to capitalize on an early lead against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Wisconsin lost 23-16. QB Graham Mertz had a fairly forgettable game when he threw an interception on a pass that was just 170 yards.
Most of the team’s points came courtesy of special teams who contributed 10. K Nate Wanzerst showed off his perfect 3-on-3 game.
Some defensive stats to keep in mind while watching: The Cowboys picked up the ball 12 times into the game, finishing 34th in the nation. But badgers are even better. They picked up the ball for him 15 times to enter the match, placing him 11th in the nation. We’ll see if that dominance gives Wisconsin a path to victory.