SPORTS
Vegas not Wiscon-Sin City
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Also by Ben Voelkel:
- Rocky trip Outback for UW (January 1, 2008)
Related Stories:
- Keeping it real in the Sin City (September 11, 2003)
- The legend of a Badger fan (August 30, 2002)
- Robbed by the night? (September 5, 2002)
- UNLV's Brimmer looks to cause havoc once more (September 9, 2004)
- Former Badgers make pro debuts (April 7, 2004)
by Ben Voelkel
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Hordes of Wisconsin football fans are flocking to Las Vegas this week to eat at cheap buffets, gamble, see a few shows and revel in all else that is Sin City. After the entire experience, the Badger game will be an afterthought to some.
Not so for the UW football team. In an effort to take as much of the distraction out of a trip to Las Vegas as possible, head coach Bret Bielema instituted a few changes for the trip.
"As far as where we're going, I don't see that as a distraction," Bielema said, adding the team's hotel is about 45 minutes from Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport and the Vegas Strip.
"It's a town that you need a little bit of money in order to be a visitor at, and a lot of our guys don't have that. So one thing [different is] the last time they went to Vegas, they actually drove down the Strip and let them experience (it)," Bielema said. "But maybe I'm a little bit of a dictator, but we're just going to our hotel, eating dinner, having a meeting and going to bed."
While the players' curfew has been extended an extra hour Friday night, they won't be able to use that time to hit up the casinos or nightclubs.
"They can watch a movie; that can be their entertainment for the night," he said.
Once game-time finally arrives, the Badgers will have to deal with Travis Dixon, UNLV's versatile quarterback. In the Rebels' first game, Dixon racked up 141 yards passing and another 129 yards rushing.
"They bring another exciting quarterback to watch, he's a very versatile player, not only can he run the football very, very well, he gained 140 yards in their opener (and) threw the ball effectively," Bielema said.
Special performances
Bielema came away from Saturday's win impressed with a couple members of UW's special teams. Kicker Taylor Mehlaff earned special teams MVP honors, but Bielema was also impressed by freshman return man David Gilreath, who had a long punt return of 16 yards and a kickoff return for 26 yards.
"I liked him, you know, that's all coaching," joked Bielema, who also serves as the team's special teams' coach. "You should have seen me trying to simulate that speed around the corner during fall camp."
After Washington State's opening kickoff sailed out of bounds, the Badgers chose to have the Cougars re-kick the ball instead of taking the penalty and the ball at the 35-yard line. Gilreath ended up returning the following kick to the 39-yard line.
"I wanted to make them move back 5 yards and kick it again; I think we only gained four more yards, … but what we did was we put that ball in David's hands, and he got that first taste of that first return," Bielema said.
Mehlaff, who said all offseason the new NCAA rule that moved kickoffs back 5 yards would help Wisconsin because he would still be able to reach the end zone on his kicks, delivered on his promise. On seven kicks, Mehlaff booted four touchbacks and Washington State averaged just over 20 yards per return.
"Taylor Mehlhaff, the way that he kicked the ball, not only with the wind, but into the wind, was amazing," Bielema said.
"I know we had one tackled inside the 20, we had one guy who caught it 4 yards deep and decided to come out with it, and it's a huge change in field position."
Still seeing red
Fans can argue back and forth the fashion merits of monochrome uniforms until they are blue — or red — in the face, but the red-on-red uniform combination worn by Wisconsin Saturday seems like it is going to stick around.
Two days after announcing that the new home uniform of the Badgers, Bielema stood by his decision, one that apparently was extremely difficult to make.
"For like three weeks, that was my last thought every night before I went to bed, I went back and forth," Bielema said. "I threw it out to my staff, and they unanimously pretty much said, 'No, don't do it,' and so I was really in a turmoil."
Aside from winning decisively in the first game in the uniforms, the new look also earned the approval of a key demographic.
"The recruits that were all there loved it, our players liked it, and we played fairly well, so we'll see where it takes us," Bielema said.
Anonymous (September 5, 2007 @ 11:03am):
Talk about distractions: Las Vegas will be host to three different events this weekend. 1) The Badger game, 2) The AVP "Gods and Goddesses of the Beach" tournament at Ceasar's Palace, and 3) The MTV VMA's.
Anonymous (September 5, 2007 @ 7:40pm):
The players aren't exactly going to have free time to run around the city.
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 5:51am):
College football is a business...last I checked, you don't go joy riding on a company trip...
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