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MADISON, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- Wisconsin was on the wrong end of last season's biggest upset. Today, lightning struck twice. The sixth-ranked Badgers were beaten in double overtime by Big Ten Conference rival Northwestern, 47-44, on Damien Anderson's 12-yard touchdown run. Northwestern (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten) scored 40 points after halftime to shock the Badgers (3-1, 0-1), who had won 11 straight games since losing to Michigan in last year's Big Ten opener. "I was probably the least surprised person out of 80,000 here today. I expected to win," Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. "We don't put a plan together or prepare or work like we work to do anything but that. I knew we were playing a very good football team, and for us to win we were going to have to play well. But I expect to play well." After Vitaly Pisetsky booted a 39-yard field goal to open the second overtime, Anderson took a handoff from Zak Kustok on a draw play and raced around left end for the winning score, silencing the crowd at Camp Randall Stadium. "First, let me congratulate Northwestern," said Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez. "I thought they played an excellent football game. Their kids hung in there and did a good job. I'm disappointed in the loss, but when you take a look at it, we made too many mistakes." Anderson had 174 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries and Kustok completed 21-of-41 passes for 278 and a pair of scores. "We talked all week about trust," Walker said. "I challenged them to be there, to be great -- cut it loose and let's go after them. I would much rather dare greatly and live on the edge knowing that was our best shot than the other." The Wildcats broke a three-game losing streak to Wisconsin, which played without six suspended players, including All-American cornerback Jamar Fletcher and wide receiver Chris Chambers. In their first three games, the Badgers were able to overcome other suspensions to players who received illegal discounts from a local shoe store. But their luck finally ran out, despite a huge day from running back Michael Bennett. "We pretty much had seen what they had done," Alvarez said. "They executed on offense better than we executed on defense. I thought our offense did a good job against their defense. There really weren't any surprises." Last year, then-No. 8 Wisconsin was beaten by Cincinnati, 17-12, on September 18. Still, the Badgers went on to claim their second straight Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl victory. The victory undoubtedly was Northwestern's biggest since it shared the Big Ten title in 1996. The Wildcats won by answering every challenge presented by the Badgers, who edged Cincinnati in overtime last weekend. Wisconsin was unable to protect a nine-point third-quarter lead and two separate advantages in the final period. After trailing 23-14 midway through the third, the Wildcats grabbed a 24-23 lead on Anderson's 69-yard touchdown run with just under eight minutes left. Wisconsin responded with a 55-yard TD scamper by Bennett and converted the two-point conversion to take a 31-24 lead with 6:05 remaining. Bennett, who has five rushes for at least 40 yards this season, rushed 48 times for a career-high 293 yards. "It was a great day. He had 293 rushing yards," Alvarez said. "That's a big day. He's a big-time back. He's a breakaway threat and he also gets the tough yards. It's a shame that you have a loss after someone puts on a performance like that." Just over two minutes later, however, Kustok avoided a rush and lofted a 29-yard TD pass to a wide-open Derrick Thompson to tie it. Pisetsky booted a 47-yard field goal with 51 seconds to play, but on the final play of regulation Tim Long was good from 46 yards for the Wildcats. It was the longest field goal of Long's career. Kustok hit Teddy Johnson for a 15-yard score in overtime, but Bollinger tied it again with a five-yard TD strike to Nick Davis, who caught five passes for 51 yards. Johnson had game highs of six receptions and 75 yards. "You know how demanding our program is and how much we expect out of our kids," said Walker. "It's just great to give them evidence. For a year and a half I have been waiting to give them evidence that there is a method to the madness and a reason for all the things we try to do." Bollinger was 12-of-24 for 153 yards and three touchdowns.
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