SPORTS
Badgers maul defenseless Cougs
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Also by Kevin Hagstrom:
- Family comes 1st for ex-Badger WR (December 11, 2007)
- Nothing special about UW power play (December 10, 2007)
- Confident UW squad faces off against Minnesota State (December 7, 2007)
- Sophomores to play for U.S.A. (December 6, 2007)
- Hill of a pickle for UW tailback (December 5, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Wisconsin versus Washington State report card (September 3, 2007)
- Wisconsin report card (September 17, 2007)
- Indiana runs over Badgers (October 7, 2001)
- UW Report Card (November 19, 2007)
- Brown, Smith carry Badgers to victory (November 12, 2007)
by Kevin Hagstrom
Monday, September 3, 2007
Misfortune and a shaky start by the defense couldn't stop the Badgers from running away with another home opener win.
Behind Tyler Donovan's 284 passing yards and four touchdowns, Wisconsin won to begin the year for the 10th straight time.
The game began with little excitement, but soon turned into a high-scoring affair following an unfortunate bounce off of a blocked punt.
With a great jump on his first official play after redshirting his freshman season, defensive end Kirk DeCremer surged through the line on the snap and got his hands on the punt. Unfortunately for the backup defensive end and Wisconsin, the ball bounced right back into Washington State punter Darryl Blunt's hands, who then ran 11 yards to pick up the first down.
Two big plays later — a 38-yard strike to wideout Brandon Gibson and a 9-yard scamper by tailback Dwight Tardy — WSU was up 7-0.
Freshman cornerback Aaron Henry attributed "overexcitement" to the defense's shaky start.
"Everybody comes out pumped," Henry said. "It was the first game of the season so we had to kind of settle down, play our game, and the second half we end up doing that."
The Badgers responded. A good kickoff return by freshman David Gilreath set up the Wisconsin offense at its own 39-yard line. From there, newly named starting quarterback Tyler Donovan moved the ball down the field with a mixture of handoffs to running back P.J. Hill and passes to three different receivers. Faced with third-and-long from Washington State's 42, Donovan connected with tight end Travis Beckum over the middle for a 15-yard pickup.
Later in the drive on a third-and-short, Donovan, instead of handing it off to Hill, rolled out of the pocket to buy some time and found little-utilized receiver Xavier Harris for a 14-yard gain to set up 1st-and-goal from the 5.
"I think he definitely showed today that he's [the] capable quarterback that we expected him to be, and he will be throughout the season," senior receiver Luke Swan said.
But the player Donovan connected with time and time again was none other than the Fennimore Flash, Swan. Donovan found his classmate in the back corner of the end zone to knot the score up at seven apiece.
"We've been five years together … so there's chemistry there," Swan said.
In all, the two hooked up eight times for 170 yards and two scores, including a 38-yard strike to give UW a 28-14 lead late in the second quarter.
"He thought he had help over the top, but [Paul Hubbard] kind of took that away by going through his inside shoulder," Swan said. "It was a design play that was perfect for Cover 2."
Despite the momentum seemingly back in Wisconsin's favor, Washington State showed no mercy on its second drive of the game. The Cougars caught the Badger defense off balance, running the ball with precision and success. Of the 80 yards gained en route to a 14-7 lead, 62 came on the ground. Quarterback Alex Brink, known more for his arm than his running, even got into the mix, snapping off a career-long 27-yard scamper during which UW's defense looked hopelessly lost.
"We let the ball get outside of us," UW head coach Bret Bielema said of the team's early game struggles. "We lost leverage on the football, we missed tackles because of it, and in turn it led to two scores."
Again, the Badgers responded. Another short kick in addition to a personal foul gave the Badgers great field position at the Cougars' 47. A few plays later, pulling out all the strings, offensive coordinator Paul Chryst called for a wide receiver reverse by Gilreath that took Wisconsin inside the 5-yard line. From there, Hill bowled his way to find pay dirt and a 14-14 tie.
"I love his mentality, how he comes every day and really finds things that play to our strengths," Swan said about the play-calling abilities of offensive coordinator Paul Chryst.
"He's a mastermind when it comes to offense, how he can bring the offense together so things click," Donovan added.
After a shaky start to begin the game, giving up 14 points on Washington State's first two drives, Wisconsin clamped down and controlled the tempo. With the score still tied at 14, Washington State was given a great scoring opportunity at Wisconsin's 36 following a fumble by Swan. Wisconsin's defense stepped up, forcing the Cougars into a long field-goal attempt which was well short.
"I think after the first couple of series our coaches did an excellent job making adjustments, and then I think we played well defensively after that," strong safety Aubrey Pleasant said.
As was the case all of last year, the Badgers dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for 36:47.
Part of that success stemmed from the team's third-down efficiency — finishing 11-of-15 — and the ease in which the offense continued to move the chains.
"We made a lot of third-down conversions when it was real important," Swan said. "Guys stayed composed as far as that goes … and Tyler made a lot of good throws."
On all of its seven drives, UW picked at least one first down.
While Donovan was fantastic, his counterpart Brink wasn't bad either. The senior WSU signal caller finished 17-of-27 for 171 yards and a score.
In place of injured tight end Andy Crooks, redshirt sophomore Garrett Graham recorded his first career catch and touchdown on the same play to put Wisconsin up for good 21-14.
"I can't really describe it," Graham said. "It was a great day to go out there, score a touchdown in my first game and feel like I'm really contributing."
Running back Lance Smith looked good in relief of Hill, rushing 11 times for 60 yards.
Freshman running back Zach Brown and junior quarterback Allan Evridge also got into the mix when the game was all but over. Brown rushed for 13 yards on four carries and Evridge completed the only pass he attempted. While the win was a good one and exhibited just how potent Wisconsin can be on both offense and defense, there is much to improve upon. And that can't be bad.
"We still have a long way to go," Henry said. "We still have to get better. We have 11 more games, so this is just a steppingstone for us."
Anonymous (September 3, 2007 @ 11:52am):
Hi,
I just wanted to pass on a piece of info about the Badger-UNLV game coming up.
I am originally from Wisconsin and reside in norther Arizona. I planned on attending the game. UNLV is requiring people to purchase season tickets in order to attend this game. It is the only time that UNLV is requiring this. No other UNLV home game requires the purchase of season tickets.
Please check this out. I feel that this is very, very wrong. If you need more detail please call me at 928-308-2458.
Thanks for your time.
Mike Markgraf
Chino Valley, AZ
Anonymous (September 4, 2007 @ 2:24pm):
In response to the e-mail about UNLV forcing people to buy season tickets for the Wisconsin game. I'm probably not stating what everyone knows, but, UNLV knows how well Wisconsin fans travel. This is an attempt to rip Wisconsin fans off, and keep too many loud Badger fans out of the stadium.
What I plan on doing is to call the Las Vegas/ Nevada Chamber of Comerce, and or the city mayor and let them know all the money I was going to spend on hotels, rental cars, food gambling, etc. is now not going to be spent anywhere near Nevada. This will get the greedy !*# 's where they hurt.
Anonymous (September 4, 2007 @ 5:45pm):
We just bought season tix....theyre only $90 which if you look at the sports bookies any seat is more expensive than(when we last checked anyways). Besides, why not turn around and sell the tix making this game either very inexpensive or for a profit?
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