4/29 Photos Of The Day: 2011 Wisconsin Football Photo Review

Congrats to the six Badgers drafted by NFL teams this past weekend: Kevin Zeitler (Bengals), Peter Konz (Falcons), Russell Wilson (Seahawks), Nick Toon (Saints), Bradie Ewing (Falcons) and Brad Nortman (Panthers). Also, good luck to the guys who signed on as undrafted free agents, including Antonio Fenelus (Colts), Aaron Henry (Raiders), Louis Nzegwu (Falcons), Jake Byrne (Saints) and Patrick Butrym (49ers).

Thanks for your great UW careers, here are some photos I took at Badger games in 2011:

Rose Bowl; Wisconsin vs TCU, Jan. 1st

Camp Randall; Wisconsin vs UNLV, Sept. 1

Soldier Field; Wisconsin vs Northern Illinois, Sept. 17

Lucas Oil Stadium; Wisconsin vs Michigan St., Big Ten Champ Game, Dec. 3

Ball So Hard in 2012

He’s baaaaaaaaaack.

I really liked one quote Ball dropped in his press conference this afternoon. When talking about people questioning his ability to improve his draft stock next year, he said, “they have no idea what I can and cannot do.” Love it, never doubt what you can do.

I’ll post something longer on Ball and his decision later today.

The Heisman Case For Montee Ball

Montee Ball strikes the pose against UNLV in week one

In a year where there is no clear cut favorite for the Heisman Trophy with only two weeks left in the college football regular season, it baffles me that Wisconsin running back Montee Ball is not a serious contender for the prestigious honor. Ball plays for a ranked team in a major conference and is on pace to finish the season with over 1750 rushing yards and 35 total touchdowns. Yet, Ball is not on most voters’ radars.

This is partly due to the hype quarterback Russell Wilson has been receiving all season. Don’t get me wrong, Wilson definitely deserves the hype. He’s thrown for 26 touchdowns and just three interceptions and is on pace to shatter the NCAA record for pass efficiency rating (he currently sits at 199.3, the current record held by Hawaii’s Colt Brennan is 186.0). The athletic department has been hyping Wilson for the Heisman since the Badgers defeated Nebraska in early October. The @RussellManiaXVI twitter feed was created just hours after the Badgers 48-17 victory. Wilson has also had some classic Heisman moments spoiled by shoddy defense and special teams. The senior engineered fourth quarter comebacks on the road against Michigan State and Ohio State, only to have his defense blow the games in the final seconds.

However, as great as Wilson has been the season, I believe Montee Ball is having a more special season and is more important to the success of the Badgers offense. Ball got knocked out of the game against Michigan State after he took a helmet to helmet hit in the second quarter. The offense faltered without him, and didn’t get back on track until Ball returned in the second half. The Badgers had a hard time getting anything going against Ohio State until Ball starting running free in the fourth quarter. Also, don’t forget about Ball’s spectacular touchdown grab in the first quarter that saved Wilson. Ball snatched a poor throw from Wilson, it should have been picked off, and ran into the end zone for the game’s first score.

Ball has reached the end zone 30 times this season, and scored at least two touchdowns in every game this season. He is just the fifth player in FBS history to score at least 30 touchdowns in a season. The junior has already broken the Wisconsin and Big Ten records for most rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns in a season, and with possibly three games left, Ball still has an outside chance to break Barry Sanders’ outrageous record of 39 total touchdowns. Ball is averaging a touchdown every 8.0 times he touches the ball

Ball ranks first in the NCAA in rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns and total scoring. Ball has accounted for 182 points this season, 32 more than Kansas State quarterback Colin Klein, who sits in second. Ball is second in the NCAA in rushing yards, just two yards behind Western Kentucky’s Bobby Rainey.

Wisconsin two losses hurts Ball’s chances, but it’s important to remember that the Badgers didn’t lose those games because of Ball, and both of those losses came on hail mary passes. Ball has played well in every one of Wisconsin’s toughest tests.

48-17 win vs Nebraska: 30 carries, 151 yards, 4 TDs

37-31 loss at Michigan St: 18 carries, 115 yards, TD; 2 rec, 24 yards, TD

33-29 loss at Ohio St: 17 carries, 84 yards, TD; 3 rec, 30 yards, TD

28-17 win vs Illinois: 38 carries, 224 yards, 2 TDs; 1 rec TD

According to the UW athletic department, in three games against teams ranked among the top 16 in the country in total defense (Michigan State, Ohio State and Illinois), he has averaged 141.3 rushing yards, 159.0 all-purpose yards and scored seven touchdowns (four rushing, three receiving).

Alabama running back Trent Richardson is considered by most to be a serious contender for the Heisman. Heisman Pundit believes that if the vote were held right now, Richardson would finish third, behind Stanford’s Andrew Luck and Baylor’s Robert Griffin III. However, Ball has better numbers than Richardson across the board. Ball has more rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns, and has a higher yards per carry average.

Richardson had a chance to have a Heisman moment on the biggest stage possible, last month’s “Game of the Century” between Alabama and LSU. The junior didn’t have a poor performance, he ran for 89 yards and had 5 catches for 80 yards, but he didn’t reach the end zone as his team lost 9-6 in overtime.

At this point, there are only a few reasons why someone would vote for Richardson over Ball. Richardson is considered to be the more talented player and have the higher draft stock. Most pundits have Richardson being a top five or top ten pick in next year’s NFL draft if he opts to leave early. Richardson plays for Alabama, a high profile team that plays in the most high profile conference, the SEC. Alabama is also ranked #2 in the nation, and if the season ended today, the Crimson Tide would be playing in the BCS National Championship Game. To me, none of those reasons should matter when it comes to the Heisman, the trophy supposedly given to college football’s most outstanding player.

Now, if people have Baylor’s Griffin over Ball, fine, that’s a different story. Griffin has had an outstanding season. He’s putting up video game numbers (33 TDs, only 5 INTs and over 4000 total yards) and he’s exciting as hell to watch. But if you’re going to punish Ball for playing on a two-loss team, then Griffin should be as well. Baylor has lost three times, and needed overtime to beat Kansas, one of the worst BCS teams.

Ball has possibly two more chances to shine on a big stage before Heisman voters turn in their ballots. The Badgers play Penn State this Saturday in a de facto Big Ten Leaders Division title game, and with a victory, UW will face Michigan State in the first ever Big Ten Championship game on Dec. 3. Perhaps, Ball still has a chance to capture the nation’s attention.

Searching For Great Moments In Badger History

I’m currently doing some freelance research work for the Wisconsin Radio Network. My job is to find “shining moments” in Badger history to be featured in commercials for the Marshfield Clinic. Once I find the significant games, I have to assemble a fact sheet and find someone involved in the game to be interviewed.

We just finished the ads for the football season, and they will be uploaded to this site week-by-week.

I had to find significant moments/games against Penn State, Michigan State, Indiana and one other game against a team that UW was not playing this year (I chose the 1981 game against Michigan). Here are the “shining” moments I found:

Oct. 26, 1974: Wisconsin defeats Indiana 35-25

Freshman Mike Morgan rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start as the Badgers defeated Indiana 35-25 in Bloomington.

Morgan filled in for all-Big Ten running back Billy Marek who was sidelined by knee and wrist injuries.

Fullback Ken Starch added 99 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Gregg Bohlig completed 10 of his 17 pass attempts for 160 yards.

The Badgers climbed to .500 in Big Ten play. UW lost their previous two games to powerhouses Ohio State and Michigan.

Wisconsin finished the 1974 season 7-4. It was the Badgers first winning season since 1962.

WHO WE INTERVIEWED: I attempted to get a hold of Mike Morgan to no avail. Since we never got in touch with him, we didn’t use this game and we ended up replacing it with the 1997 UW/IU game. Matt Davenport kicked a field goal with four seconds left to give the Badgers the lead and the win. Davenport would go on to kick another game winning field goal the very next week against Northwestern. (Davenport was interviewed)

Sept. 13, 1981: Wisconsin defeats #1 Michigan 21-14

Former UW Head Coach Dave McClain

“It’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I’ve never had so much fun coaching as today. I told the squad before the game that nobody outside this locker room thinks we have a chance. Only we know that we can win this game.”

-Wisconsin Head Coach Dave McClain

“Our problems were simple. Our offense wasn’t any good, our defense wasn’t any good, our kicking game wasn’t any good, and our coaching was poor. It’s a miracle we were only beaten by seven points.”

-Michigan Head Coach Bo Schembechler

Wisconsin beat the #1 ranked team in the country for the first time in school history when they defeated #1 ranked Michigan on Sept. 13, 1981 at Camp Randall.

Wisconsin had not defeated Michigan since 1962, and the Wolverines had outscored the Badgers 176-0 in their previous four meetings.

It was Michigan’s first loss in a road opener since Harvard did them in 100 years earlier.

Wisconsin’s defense shut down Michigan quarterback Steve Smith (3-18, 39 yards and 3 INTs) and held star wide receiver Anthony Carter to just one catch.

Meanwhile, the Badgers were able to rack up 439 net yards. Quarterback  Jess Cole completed 8 of his 17 passes for 182 yards and threw touchdowns to Marvin Neal and John Williams. Fullback Dave Mohapp led the Badgers with 19 carries for 87 yards. Running back Chucky Davis rushed for 71 yards and one touchdown.

WHO WE INTERVIEWED: Safety and punter David Greenwood.

Oct. 16, 1982: Wisconsin defeats Michigan State 24-23

Wisconsin held on for victory as safety David Greenwood intercepted a pass on Michigan State’s two point conversion attempt in the final seconds.

The Spartans got the ball back trailing 24-17 with just under three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Late in the drive, Spartans quarterback John Leister escaped a savage rush to hit wide receiver Otis Grant with a 28 yard strike, moving the Spartans to the Wisconsin 10 yard line.

Two plays later, Lesiter found split end Ted Jones alone in the end zone, cutting the deficit to a point, 24-23.

Michigan State head coach Muddy Waters decided to avoid a tie (there was no overtime at the time) by going for two points and the victory.

“There was never a doubt about going for two points. We played to win,” said Waters after the game.

Leister rolled right, and with Grant open deep in the end zone, he under threw the pass and the ball fell right into the hands of Wisconsin safety David Greenwood.

The Badgers escaped with a 24-23 victory

WHO WE INTERVIEWED: We actually we’re unable to do a piece on this game. I got a hold of David Greenwood, but he had no recollection of the game. Instead, we interviewed Greenwood about the 1981 Michigan game. Bill Scott from the Wisconsin Radio Network replaced this game with the 1992 UW/MSU game that took place in Tokyo. The Badgers won that game to clinch a berth in the Rose Bowl. (Barry Alvarez was interviewed)

Sept. 30, 1995: Wisconsin defeats #6 Penn State 17-9

Former Badger QB Darrell Bevell, who is currently the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks.

Wisconsin went into Happy Valley and ended the Nittany Lions’ nation-best 20 game winning streak that dated back to the 1994 season. The loss also snapped Penn State’s 12 game Big Ten winning streak.

It was the first time Wisconsin and Penn State had played since 1970, and the first time the two teams had played as Big Ten Conference foes. PSU joined the Big Ten in 1993, but they did not play UW their first two seasons in the league.

Darrell Bevell completed 18 of his 22 pass attempts for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Bevell’s first quarter touchdown pass to tight end Matt Nyquist put the Badgers up 10-0. Nyquist ended the game with 4 catches for 40 yards and the one touchdown.

Bevell later connected with wide receiver Tony Simmons on a 21 yard touchdown pass that put the Badgers up 17-3 early in the fourth quarter.

The game was Joe Paterno’s 500th as a member of the Penn State coaching staff.

WHO WE INTERVIEWED: TE Matt Nyquist; 4 catches, 40 yards, 1 touchdown