Big Ten Network videographer opens up about embarrassing viral video from Rutgers-Wisconsin game
The football found an unintended target in Wisconsin’s 24-13 win over Rutgers on Saturday. In the Red Zone on fourth down, Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt rocketed a ball toward the end zone. Instead of gracefully falling into a receiver’s outstretched hands, the ball rammed into an unsuspecting videographer’s crotch.
The victim had a name: Ethan Bacon, a Big Ten Network videographer. Although the wild pass wasn’t in Bacon’s photography plan, he kept a good attitude toward the hilarious highlight.
“Hurt for about 40 minutes, and now it’s all good and it’s a funny story to tell and a great shot to have,” Bacon said after the game, according to Rutgers beat reporter Brian Fonseca.
More impressive, Bacon captured every second of the hysterical play-gone-wrong in beautiful 4K, slow-motion. Someone give this guy a raise.
If it gives Bacon any solace, the wild pass wasn’t personal. Wimsatt struggled to find receivers all game, completing just 16-of-his-35 (45.7%) pass attempts. In the loss, Wimsatt only tallied 181 passing yards and a touchdown while also dealing a pivotal interception.
Trailing 10-0 with less than a minute left in the second quarter, Rutgers was second-and-goal from the 6-yard line. Instead of pushing it in to the end zone, Wimsatt threw a catastrophic pick-six to Wisconsin’s Ricardo Hallman.
After the game, Hallman reflected on the game-changing play.
“We knew that Rutgers’ quarterback was a little bit trigger-happy in terms of just kind of seeing his first read and just kind of throwing it right there and stuff like that,” Hallman said. “Just kind of trying to bait him a little bit, just to make that guy look a little open and kind of come off of it. A bunch of film watching went into that.
“It was awesome, just to see that green field and ultimately go get it,” Hallman said. “I knew I didn’t want to get caught. I knew the guys would clown me all day in the locker room if I got caught by the quarterback.”
Luke Fickell on Wisconsin’s performance
While the interception aided Wisconsin’s efforts, it wasn’t the sole reason behind the Badgers’ victory. In the win, Wisconsin dominated the ground game, rattling off 213 rushing yards for 4.6 yards a carry. Head coach Luke Fickell was proud of his team’s performance.
“The whole emphasis was winning the rushing battle,” Fickell said. “It doesn’t just mean yards. But it means the ability to take the people out what they want to do. It didn’t mean that we had to hand the ball off 50 times and make sure we were ahead of them in the rushing game.
“It had a lot to do with our ability to stop the run, establish the line of scrimmage. And I know the guys upfront did a great job from the opening snap to the end.”