Those who stayed up late through the lightning delay saw a thriller of a Sunday Night Football Game, with Dallas scoring in the final 30 seconds to beat Pittsburgh, 20-17.

They also saw a full allotment of Wisconsin-connected football players.

From a milestone for Pewaukee native T.J. Watt to a huge play by a Dallas fullback from rural Wisconsin to another solid day from Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson, here’s what you missed if you went to bed early.

T.J. Watt becomes second fastest player to 100 career NFL sacks

If we didn’t already reach this point, it feels safe to start referring to Pewaukee and University of Wisconsin alumnus T.J. Watt as “future Hall of Famer,” just like his older brother.

Watt reached 100 career NFL sacks with a strip sack of Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott in the second quarter, making him the second-fastest player to reach that mark. He turned the feat in 109 games, with only Reggie White (96) reaching that plateau faster. DeMarcus Ware needed 113 games to hit 100, while Bruce Smith needed 115, J.J. Watt 120, Lawrence Taylor 122, Jared Allen 122 and Von Miller 124.

Among those on the list who are eligible, only Allen is not a Hall of Famer.

Not to be lost in the shuffle was that Nick Herbig joined him in registering the half-sack and forced fumble. The Hawaii native played for the Wisconsin Badgers, as well.

T.J. later registered a second sack in the game and now has 4.5 for the year and 101 in his career. Big brother approved of his arrival in the 100-sack club.

Hunter Luepke puts Dallas on the doorstep of a thrilling win

The only problem is that Pittsburgh didn’t win the game.

Prescott rallied the Cowboys for a 4th and goal touchdown in the final seconds on a pass to Jalen Tolbert, a 4-yard completion that tipped the scales. The Cowboys arrived inside the 5-yard line thanks to a checkdown pass to Hunter Luepke, the 2023 undrafted free agent from North Dakota State who attended Spencer High School and played for the co-op between Spencer and Columbus Catholic.

Luepke already has seven receptions this year for 91 yards, plus four rushes for another 14 yards and eight total first downs. He’s playing just more than half of the Cowboys’ offensive snaps.

Jake Ferguson continues strong year as Dallas tight end

Former Badgers standout and Madison Memorial alumnus Jake Ferguson closed the year in a big way last year when he caught a career-best 10 passes against the Packers in the postseason, en route to 93 yards and three touchdowns. He’s continued racking up stats in 2024.

Though he missed a game with injury in Week 2, Ferguson is up to 22 catches for 229 yards this season, though he’s still looking for his first touchdown. Against the Steelers, he brought in six balls on seven targets for 70 yards.

Isaiahh Loudermilk blocks Dallas field-goal attempt

Defensive tackle Isaiahh Loudermilk, a native of Kansas who played for Wisconsin, blocked a 38-yard field goal attempt by Dallas star field-goal kicker Brandon Aubrey in the third quarter.

Loudermilk sees the field of 17% of defensive snaps and 31% on special teams; he’s got a pass defended and five tackles this year.

With Watt and Loudermilk, the Steelers all told have four Badgers contributing to Pittsburgh’s defense.

Keeanu Benton, a native of Janesville, has started four of the five games and has 10 tackles while playing an even half of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps.

Herbig has started two games this year, with a forced fumble, fumble recovery and 2.5 sacks. He plays regularly on special teams and sees the field for just less than half of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps.

Did you see Andrew Van Ginkel’s pick-six of Aaron Rodgers in London?

In other action Sunday, Andrew Van Ginkel’s pick-six for Minnesota loomed large when the Vikings defeated Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, 23-17, in London.

Playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the Packers played two seasons ago, the former UW player picked off Rodgers and ran 63 yards the other way for a touchdown that spotted the Vikings a 10-0 lead. It was one of three interceptions Rodgers threw in the loss.

Van Ginkel played his first five NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins before joining the Vikings this year on a two-year deal. He’s started all five games at linebacker, with now two interceptions returned for touchdowns, three sacks, 19 tackles and three total passes defended.

Alec Ingold scores go-ahead touchdown for Dolphins

Bay Port High School alumnus and former Badgers fullback Alec Ingold got into the end zone for a huge Dolphins score Sunday, plowing up the gut on 1st and goal for a fourth-quarter score that gave his team a 15-10 lead over New England with 4:24 to play.

That wound up being the final score

Ingold only has three receptions and six rushes this year, but his primary task is to block, which earned him a spot on last year’s Pro Bowl roster.

Thanks to great participation in last week’s USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN’s Student of the Week poll, we were able to crown our first winner.

Now, we need your help again to choose our second winner. This week’s finalists are Jovan Adamavich, a freshman doing big things at Sheboygan South High School, and Ethan LeCaptain, a senior who demonstrates leadership at Green Bay’s Notre Dame Academy.

Be sure to vote for your choice in the second round of this statewide initiative. Voting runs from 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7, until noon Thursday, Oct. 10.

Here’s what those who nominated our finalists say about them:

Jovan Adamavich, Sheboygan South High School, grade 9

“Jovan is currently earning As and Bs in school, and is working hard for his school’s football teams — playing both junior varsity and some varsity games — as a freshman. Jovan is also always polite and considerate in the space he shares with me and other students as part of Boys & Girls Clubs Be Great Graduate program. His hard work academically, athletically, and positive school citizenship is impressive!”

— Mary Michels, graduation specialist at Boys & Girls Clubs of Sheboygan County

Ethan LeCaptain, Notre Dame Academy, grade 12

“Ethan LeCaptain is a senior and has a strong work ethic. He knows what needs to get done. In addition, he also knows that other students, especially underclassmen, may struggle in their classes; therefore he has committed to tutoring others on a weekly basis. Finally, outside of the classroom, Ethan is a two-sport athlete who carries himself in a dignified manner both on and off the field of play.”

— Cassidy McGowan, learning resource consultant at Notre Dame Academy

Click the link below to vote:

Do you work with youth and know someone who should be Student of the Week? Reach out to Debi Young, statewide education editor, at debi.young@jrn.com to get a link to the nomination form.

Madison Lammert covers child care and early education across Wisconsin as a Report for America corps member based at The Appleton Post-Crescent. To contact her, email mlammert@gannett.com. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to Report for America by visiting postcrescent.com/RFA.

RHINELANDER, Wis. (WJFW) – The Wisconsin Chapter of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association – also known as NICA – held the fifth race of their 2024 season at Camp Tesomas Boy Scout Camp on Sunday. Renee Griswold is the Wisconsin NICA league director says the goal is to help kids of middle and high school age to find community and be their best selves through mountain biking.

“We have 977 athletes competing from across Wisconsin,” Griswold said. “They are riding a brand-new course that was built for this event. And we’re just really happy to be here.”

While the Association has never been to Rhinelander, Griswold said the Northwoods terrain had everyone excited to get up to Rhinelander for a day of riding.

“The topography, the nature that we’re riding through,” Griswold said. “This venue itself, Camp Tesomas, is a Boy Scout camp and they have all of the amenities that we need. They have trails here already. They have space for camping, space for parking, all of the infield fun that we need. We can do all the activities we need to at this one big beautiful venue.”

Coming to beautiful new places like the Northwoods is part of what Griswold calls her “NICA why.” Which encourages athletes and coaches to ask themselves what they are riding for and why it’s important.

“For me personally, my NICA why is creating a safe space for our student-athletes and our coaches and our families to have new experiences,” Griswold said. “Everyone can do this to the best of their ability and make it their own experience and conquer their own challenges.”

The Rhinelander Northwoods Composite team also took some time to talk about what kinds of challenges they were expecting for Sunday’s races. And while they may only be in 7^th grade, these kids came ready for a race on their hometown turf.

“Today…it’s a cold one, so we’ve got to stay warm,” Rhinelander Composite Mountain Biking team member Jase Houg said. “So, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be challenging for most kids but I feel like it’s going to be a good race.”

“It’s a very technical race…more technical than a lot of the other ones,” added Houg’s teammate Hans Sommer. “There’s some bigger hill climbs and more technical riding.”

When asked what their favorite part about mountain biking is, they said that anyone can find a welcoming community in the sport.

“There’s other trails, not just super technical trails or super trails that have a bunch of jumps. There’s also trails that are fun, flowy and just more fun to ride,” Sommer said. “And you’re out in the wild. Usually, you go around school and your friends are asking you ‘what’s the Rhinelander bike team?’ and you tell them ‘oh, it’s fun. You go out with a mountain bike and buddies and you go ride around on the trails,’” Houg added.