UW vs Indiana Last Saturday, the Badgers beat the Indiana Hoosiers by a score of 31-28. After scoring 24 in the first half, the Badgers left their fans a little nervous in the second half, scoring only a single touchdown to answer Indiana’s 14 second-half points. Kudos in this game go to John Clay, with 15 carries for 134 yards and one TD; freshman Montee Ball, who came in after John Clay suffered a slight concussion, picking up 115 yards in 27 carries with two TDs; and receiver Nick Toon, with five catches for 123 yards. And freshman linebacker Chris Borland continues to impress, with two third-down stops in the first half, a short kickoff return 32 yards to the Indiana 49 in the second quarter (which set up UW's third touchdown), an intercepted pass at the UW 4 to stop an Indiana scoring threat in the third quarter, and a team-high nine tackles. Also, when Josh Oglesby left the game with an injury in the second quarter, reserve Jake Bscherer stepped up at right tackle and helped protect Scott Tolzien, who wasn’t sacked for the first time since the Minnesota game. The Badger defense held the Hoosiers to 63 rushing yards. The Badgers have yet to surrender 100 rushing yards to a league foe this season. After the game, wide receiver Maurice Moore was involved in a single-vehicle crash on Regent Street near Randall. He was arrested and charged with operating while intoxicated and, as a result, has been suspended from the team indefinitely. Noting that the crash occurred near the Open Pantry, a site that always seems featured in unfortunate incidents with UW football players (Lance Smith, P.J. Hill), the Daily Cardinal dug out this classic piece. http://www.dailycardinal.com/all-uw-backs-banned-from-op-1.775483 With the win, the Badgers moved up to a 20th or 21st ranking in the various polls. With losses to Iowa and Penn State this past weekend, it is possible, albeit unlikely, that the Badgers could share in the Big Ten title. Currently the Badgers are tied with Penn State and one game behind Iowa and Ohio State in the Big Ten rankings. And with the young team that the Badgers are sporting this year, things may be looking up for the Badgers in the longer term as well. Picture this: when Mike Taylor comes back from his injury, the Badgers will have their own Tool Time lineup (Taylor and Borland)… then we’ll only need Binford Tools to become a sponsor of the Big Ten Network! UW vs Michigan This weekend the Badgers (7-2, 4-2) take on the Michigan Wolverines (5-5, 1-5) in Camp Randall. Once again the game is on the Big Ten Network, so plan on joining us at Rookies in Cromwell. It’s Senior Day, so 22 members of the team will be honored in a pre-game ceremony, including Dan Cascone of Newtown, CT. Other seniors that it will be missed include Chris Maragos and O’Brien Schofield, who just accepted an invitation to play in the East-West Shrine Game. When game time rolls around, the Badgers will be anxious for revenge after last year’s stinging loss, when the unranked Wolverines, trailing 19-0 at halftime, managed the largest comeback in Michigan stadium history, rallying to beat No. 9-ranked Wisconsin, 27-25. Wisconsin has won the last two meetings at Camp Randall Stadium, but has never beaten Michigan three straight times in Madison. On the other hand, Michigan has lost 5 of its past 6 games, and the one win was over Delaware State. Last week, the Wolverines had a 24-10 lead over Purdue at the half, but ended up losing 38-36. In the past three games, the Wolverines have been outscored 75-12 in the second half. But, knowing our Badgers, this won’t be a walk in the park… John Clay is expected to play this Saturday. Josh Oglesby is a little more doubtful but may be ready to play as well. Did You Know? The Badgers currently lead the Big Ten in rushing offense and rushing defense in conference games. The only other time in school history that UW led the league in both categories (conference games only) was in 1951. Wisconsin is one of just five teams in the country to rank among the top 20 in both rushing offense and rushing defense (TCU, Florida, Alabama and Arizona are the others). Connecticut BadgersThere was another nice writeup this week on John Moffitt, native of Guilford, this time on Madison.com. It discusses the challenges John faced this year, dealing with a pre-season injury and then changing position, from center to left guard. It also touches on John’s lighter side… John’s answer to an "Ask the Badgers" question (a series that plays on the video replay board during the game that has players giving responses to a question posed by a fan), specifically what he would do if he found money lying on the ground, was a fan favorite. To read it for yourself, go to: http://host.madison.com/sports/college/football/article_e4c77c52-cb47-11de-a547-001cc4c03286.html Badgers in the NFL Chris Chambers was immediately put to use for Kansas City, connecting on two touchdown passes (including a 54-yard one) in the last three minutes of the game in the Chiefs’ loss to Jacksonville. Pretty impressive, considering he practiced for the first time with the team last Wednesday. Badgers Who Used to be in the NFL There’s a new book out about Ron Dayne, entitled “The Dayne Game.” Authored by Justin Doherty of UW Athletics, the book chronicles Ron's time at the UW, along with the teams he played for, and about the last 1/3 of it deals with the '99 Iowa game itself, in which Dayne broke the rushing record. There are tales from Barry Alvarez and former assistant coaches such as Brian White and Bernie Wyatt and stories from Dayne’s former teammates, including one from Donnel Thompson about how he introduced Ron to a young woman Dayne would later marry, Alia Lester. The book also covers the story of the towels that fans at Camp Randall Stadium had for the Iowa game and the “Dayne-Meter,” which was kept current by a couple of researchers in a building near the stadium. Doherty even interviews the infamous streaker who dashed the length of the field, wearing little more than a smile right after Dayne’s record run. Edit |
