The Badger Herald

SPORTS

Senior looks to settle score

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Also by Jesse Husid:

UW shows rust following bye (November 5, 2007)
Defense leads to offense for UW (November 5, 2007)
Hardy's a tall task for Wisconsin (October 25, 2007)
Anderson eager to face UW (October 18, 2007)
Morelli rises above criticism (October 12, 2007)

by Jesse Husid

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Heading into the last weekend of Big Ten play, Minnesota is the only conference team that knows it will be playing its last game of the season on Saturday.

Apparently no one bothered to tell Ernie Wheelwright.

Despite boasting a 1-10 record (0-7 in conference play), Minnesota's top-scoring receiver remains unfazed going up against No. 24 Wisconsin this Saturday in Minneapolis.

"We give every team respect," Wheelwright said. "(Wisconsin) played their hearts out and beat Michigan this year. So we definitely give them respect, but we're going to go out here and put our pants on the same way they do and strap on our helmets the same way they do it and just go out there and play ball."

With five losses by a combined 16 points including an overtime and double-overtime loss by a point each, the Gophers' record could be seen as misleading (though their lone victory came in triple-overtime). As far as putting points up on the board, this Minnesota team is what Big Ten fans have grown accustomed to, scoring at least 31 points in five of 11 games this season. A big reason for that is Wheelwright. He is second on the team with 59 receptions and 683 yards, and is fourth in the conference in receiving touchdowns with nine, trailing only Indiana's James Hardy (15), Michigan's Mario Manningham (11) and Ohio State's Brian Robiskie (10).

At 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, it comes as no surprise the Columbus, Ohio, native is able to use his body to gain positioning on defensive backs.

"Being a big, physical, tall receiver in the Big Ten — it has its advantages," Wheelwright said.

Wheelwright was able to use his size to his advantage when he played Wisconsin for the first time in 2004. In the 38-14 Badger victory, Wheelwright was a bright spot for Minnesota, catching six balls for 83 yards and a touchdown. In the last two meetings between these teams, however, Wheelwright has caught just four balls for a combined 52 yards.

"Definitely the offense the last couple of years had really changed, and we were really running the ball a lot," Wheelwright said. "My freshman year we had a running offense, but we still threw the ball downfield. This year it's a totally different offense from the last two years that we played Wisconsin.

"I'm just going to go out there and play my heart out like I do every Saturday."

In four wild years with Minnesota, Wheelwright has learned to never stop playing until the final whistle blows.

"As Minnesota Gophers, we've seen it all," he said. "There's been pretty much nothing we haven't seen."

Two games came to mind.

At last year’s Insight Bowl Minnesota held a 31-point lead on Texas Tech in the third quarter and ended up losing. And holding a three-point advantage with 30 seconds left against Wisconsin two years ago, Jonathan Casillas blocked a punt, and Ben Strickland recovered it in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

So according to Wheelwright, there's nowhere else to go but up.

That statement could arguably apply to Minnesota football during Wheelwright's tenure, but might be more appropriate when talking specifically about the Badgers, against whom the Gophers are 0-3 in Wheelwright's first three seasons. Despite that, he still recognizes the history between these two teams.

"I think it's one of the best rivalries in college football," Wheelwright said. "It's definitely a little more special just knowing about the tradition between Minnesota and Wisconsin and just knowing that playing on the field, there's going to be a lot of guys on the Wisconsin team from Minnesota and a lot of guys from Wisconsin on the Minnesota team."

Wheelwright appreciates the rivalry enough to admit a win would certainly take some of the sting of this season away.

"It wouldn't be (a great win) because it's the end of the season; it'd be a great victory because it's over Wisconsin."

Regardless of what happens Saturday, Wheelwright seems to have little regret looking back at his college career.

"I've enjoyed every moment once all is said and done because up until now I've had a great college career," Wheelwright said. "I've had good times, and I've had bad times. I can say that I've played in some of the big games and made some of the biggest plays and some of the tough catches, so I feel like I had a great college career."

With one game before the book is shut on his college football career, Wheelwright has one more opportunity to add an exclamation point to his legacy. And what better way to end it against his rival, Wisconsin.

"I just can't wait to face them," Wheelwright said.

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