UW Sports Weblog

Well the Badgers came through with their fourth win this season last Saturday, defeating Michigan State 38-31. Don’t let the score fool you – Wisconsin was up by 21 points for much of the fourth quarter. Michigan State’s two final scores came with the last 2 minutes of the game. Leave it to our Badgers to make us sweat it out until the bitter end!

 

This is not last year’s team, though… Scott Tolzien continued to demonstrate that Wisconsin really has a quarterback this year! Completing 19 of 31 for 243 yards, with four touchdown passes and no interceptions, Tolzien was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. To hear from Scott himself, go to: http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/article/2009-09-28/introducing-wisconsin-junior-qb-scott-tolzien. Garrett Graham (3 touchdown receptions) and Nick Toon continued to be favorite receivers, with Lance Kendricks and Isaac Anderson catching a few, too. John Clay came back from a fumble-riddled performance last week to rush 32 times for 142 yards and a touchdown. It was reported during the game that both Clay and Bielema carried a football around with them all week, to drill home the importance of protecting the ball. 

 

On the defensive side of the ball, senior safety (and former walk-on) Chris Maragos ranks second in the Big Ten and tied for sixth in the country with three interceptions while O’Brien Schofield has had 7 ½ tackles for loss. And the Badgers have allowed only two sacks all season, tied for the NCAA lead in that statistic.

 

 

This Saturday, Wisconsin travels to Minnesota for its first away game of the season. And it promises to be a doozy! The Badgers will battle the Gophers for Paul Bunyan’s Axe in the Gophers’ new stadium (that’s TCF Bank Stadium, in case you’re wondering). The game starts at noon and will be shown on ESPN. I can’t guarantee that the Badger fans will be gathering at Rookies this week… I know I won’t be able to go.

 

The Gophers have started the season 3-1, with their one loss against nationally-ranked California. They also had an overtime win against Syracuse and a come-from-behind win against Air Force.  Last year the Gophers were up 21-7 against the Badgers at halftime, but Wisconsin came back to win 35-32. Head coach Tim Brewster announced earlier this week that senior defensive end Cedric McKinley and sophomore defensive back Tim Dandridge were suspended for the Gophers’ next two games due to a violation of team rules and policies. One Minnesota player to watch is Eric Decker, who set a Minnesota record for career receptions against Cal earlier in the season. 

 

 

There are a few Wisconsin connections on this year’s Minnesota team. Minnesota safety Kim Royston played for Wisconsin but left the team after the 2007-2008 season after Jay Valai stepped up to the strong safety position. After sitting out last year, Royston is now starting at safety for the Gophers. Also, Kevin Cosgrove, a UW assistant from 1990-2003, is in his first season with the Gophers as co-defensive coordinator and Tim Davis, a UW assistant from 1997-2001, is in his first full season as the Gophers' offensive line coach. And that’s not to mention all those former Badgers associated with that Minnesota pro football team!

Due to schedule conflicts, I won’t be able to post a message next week or report on game-watching at Rookies.

 

On Wisconsin!