Wisconsin Beat Rutgers 31-10 to Become Bowl Eligible for the First Time Since 2023 as Hopkins Wins First Start

Wisconsin beat Rutgers 31-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison on Saturday, November 7, 2026, and the win made the Badgers bowl eligible for the first time since 2023. Freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins won his first career start, completing 18 of 24 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns.

The result was close for a half and clear by the end. Wisconsin led 7-3 after the first quarter. Rutgers scored seven points in the second quarter against six for Wisconsin, so the Badgers went into halftime ahead by only 13-10. Rutgers did not score again.

Wisconsin pull away after halftime

Wisconsin scored 11 points in the third quarter and seven in the fourth. Rutgers scored zero in both quarters. The second half finished 18-0 to Wisconsin, and a three point game at the break became a 21 point win at the final whistle.

The defensive numbers match that second half. Rutgers finished with 255 total yards at 4.3 yards per play. A team held scoreless for two quarters and kept to that yardage total had few chances to change the game once Wisconsin moved ahead in the third quarter.

A first start that settled a season goal

Hopkins completed 18 of his 24 passes, a 75 percent completion rate, for 241 yards. His three touchdown passes accounted for most of the scoring separation in a game Wisconsin needed to reach six wins. The start was the first of his career, and it came in the game that returned Wisconsin to bowl eligibility.

Reports described the clinch as the first time in three seasons that Wisconsin had reached bowl eligibility, dating back to 2023. The win improved Wisconsin to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Six wins is the line that secured the bowl place, and the Badgers crossed it with games still left on the schedule, starting with a trip to Maryland.

Opposite outcomes on the same field

For Rutgers, the same score closed a door. The Scarlet Knights fell to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten. The loss was their third in a row, and the reports confirmed that Rutgers was eliminated from bowl eligibility with the defeat.

That contrast is the full story of the afternoon in Madison. One team left the field at 6-3 with a bowl trip secured for the first time since 2023 and a freshman quarterback who had won his first start with 241 yards and three touchdowns. The other left at 2-7, out of the bowl picture, after scoring 10 points in the first half and none in the second.

What comes next

Wisconsin next travels to Maryland. Rutgers next returns home to face Nebraska. No dates for those games were given in the postgame reports.