UW vs Michigan The Badgers extracted their revenge on Michigan this past weekend, beating the Wolverines by a score of 45-24, setting a school record for points against the Wolverines and beating them for the fourth straight time at home. The Badgers started off strong, with a convincing drive down the field for a score. After an interception and fumble by QB Scott Tolzien that led to 10 Michigan points, the Badger fans started getting a little nervous. The Wolverines ability to seemingly connect with a pass on every 3rd down and long yardage situation didn’t help at all. The half ended with Wisconsin ahead by four points. But the Badgers dominated in the second half, scoring on each of their four drives, and improved their record to 8-2 (5-2). Tolzien went on to complete four touchdown passes and a one-yard touchdown run, earning him the honor of being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. The win also bolstered the Badgers’ position in the rankings, rising to #16 in the BCS rankings #14 in the coaches’ poll and #17 in the Associated Press poll. The Badgers are ranked #10 by College Football News! In other Big Ten news, the Buckeyes clinched a trip to the Rose Bowl with a win over Iowa. You’ll have to cheer for Michigan this weekend, though, if you want the Badgers to have a chance to tie for the Big Ten title. A loss to Ohio and a win over Northwestern would give us our first share of the title since 1999. UW vs Northwestern This Saturday the Badgers (8-2, 5-2) take on the Wildcats (7-4, 4-3) of  Northwestern, and are starting the week as 6.5 point favorites. The game starts at 3:30 pm EST and will be shown on the Big Ten Network, so join us at Rookies Sports Bar in Cromwell if there’s any doubt that you’ll be able to watch it at home. The last time the two teams met (October 2006), Wisconsin won by a score of 41-9. This will be only the second time that Wisconsin has played in Evanston since 1999, with our last game in Evanston coming in 2005. The Wildcats are coming off of a 21-16 win over Illinois. Saturday will be Senior Day for Northwestern, with 21 seniors being honored. Mike Hankwitz, the defensive coordinator for the Wildcats, was defensive coordinator at Madison in 2006 and 2007, so he’s familiar with Paul Chryst offenses. Hawaii Game Time Set If you want to watch the Badgers take on Hawaii on December 5th, you’ll probably want to set your DVRs… The game will be shown on ESPN2 starting at 11:30 pm EST. Depending on how we and our Big Ten competitors finish out the season, the game could have bowl implications. For more information on possible bowl scenarios for the Badgers, go to: Did You Know? (from the Badgers Blog on www.jsonline.com) - The Badgers became just the sixth team in history to throw four touchdown passes in a game against Michigan.
- Wisconsin is 26-0 under Bret Bielema when scoring at least 30 points, and 30 in a row overall.
- Wisconsin has now scored on 39-of-41 red-zone opportunities this season (95%). Dating back to 1994, UW's best red-zone% is 75% (2005).
- According to the NCAA statistics, Wisconsin has played the 19th-toughest schedule in the country thus far and the second-toughest in the Big Ten. The two teams UW has lost to (Ohio State and Iowa) have a combined record of 18-4. Among teams with the 20 toughest schedules in the country, Wisconsin has the second-best record (Iowa is 9-2).
- Wisconsin has not allowed a conference foe to rush for 100 yards through seven games this season. That is a school record, surpassing the former mark of five held by three teams (1951, 2003 and 2005). The last team to go an entire Big Ten season without allowing a team to run for 100 yards was Ohio State in 1998.
- John Clay became the 13th Badger to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and the sixth sophomore to do so (P.J. Hill, Anthony Davis, Ron Dayne, Billy Marek and Alan Ameche).
- UW has had a 1,000-yard rusher for five straight seasons and 15 of the last 17.
- We scored first! Wisconsin is now 6-1 when scoring first this season and 26-4 overall under Bielema.
Badgers in the UFL I messed up last week when I neglected to mention that Brooks Bollinger, quarterback for the Florida Tuskers of the UFL, was in Connecticut, playing against the New York Sentinels last Thursday night at Rentschler Field. Dan Buenning also plays for the Tuskers. Bollinger was 19 of 27 for 215 yards and has led the Tuskers to an undefeated season. If you want to see Brooks in action, the Tuskers will be playing the California Redwoods at 9 pm EST on Versus on Thursday night. Wendell Bryant and Ross Kolodziej play for the Redwoods. Badgers in the NFL While Jim Leonhard set season highs with 7 tackles and one sack, he also suffered a thumb injury in last week’s game against the Jaguars and underwent surgery on Monday. His status is unclear for Sunday’s game against the Patriots. Lee Evans caught four passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns in the Bills’ loss to the Titans. Chris Chambers caught 3 passes for 60 yards in Kansas City’s win over Oakland. Matt Shaughnessy made four tackles and a sack for Oakland. Badger Basketball The men’s basketball team began their season against IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne) last Sunday night. The Badgers cruised to a 75-46 win. Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren made their Wisconsin debuts. Evans posted six points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 19 minutes of action, while Berggren saw nine minutes of duty, netting two points, one rebound, two assists and one block. Badgers in the NBA/European Leagues Brian Butch was released from his professional team in Greece. Butch was leading Ilysiakos Athens in points (14.0 ppg) and rebounds (5.3 rpg) at the time of his release. Bo and the Ponies Edit |
