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Brown runs over Gophers

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MINNEAPOLIS — No P.J. Hill. No Lance Smith. No problem.

The once third-string running back for Wisconsin, Zach Brown, blasted through gaping holes set up by a surging offensive line all day during Wisconsin's 41-34 win Saturday. When it was all said and done, he collected 250 yards and two touchdowns.

"Coaches told him before the game it was time to have the mindset of a feature back and starter to keep it going, and that's what he did today," senior center Marcus Coleman said.

Since taking over for the ailing Hill Nov. 3 against Ohio State, Brown has gained 421 yards in three games and has found paydirt four times.

"Zach has been doing a great job for us all year long," UW head coach Bret Bielema said. "It's exciting to see him get on the field. Back in the OSU game my only regret was we had a penalty in the game. Otherwise he'd be three-for-three as a 100-yard rusher, which as a true freshman speaks volumes of him."

But Brown wasn't the only Badger making Gophers miss. Quarterback Tyler Donovan, bad throwing hand and all, — sustained in the Michigan game — had another strong effort on the ground. He finished with a season-high 61 yards and his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.

As a unit, the run-first Wisconsin offense finished with 325 yards on 48 attempts (6.8 yards per carry average). It certainly didn't hurt that entering the game, the Gophers were among the nation's worst at stopping the run, giving up 220.6 yards per contest.

"They were either going to have to take Zach or me, and we tried to work off each other a little bit, trying to keep them off-rhythm," Donovan said. "That was kind of the game plan this week, and we started to do it and came out with a W."

Brown started the game off fairly quietly, accruing stats in 3-yard increments to finish the first quarter with 20 yards on six carries. Then on his first touch of the second quarter, he burst through the line and trucked down the field 64 yards before being taken down by Minnesota cornerback Ryan Collado, who was positioned well downfield in coverage. From there, the seal had burst, and Brown couldn't be stopped; he averaged 10 yards per carry — 230 yards on 23 carries, including that run, another 60 yard run and three others of more than 10 yards — the rest of the way.
"Zach took advantage of opportunities today," Donovan said.

"My line and fullbacks and receivers did a great job getting on top of their man, and that just gave me a clear cut to make," Brown added. "The rest is history."

For a back who was used to running fairly straight, according to Donovan, Brown did a good job moving his feet and creating with the football Saturday.

"The most impressive thing I saw from Brown today was that once he got to the second level, he was making other guys miss, and he had some good runs in key situations that really helped us," Donovan said.

While it took the freshman a little while to get accustomed to the offense, averaging 3.3 yards per carry through the team's first 10 games, getting the repetitions as the starter has accelerated his learning curve significantly. His 250 rushing yards Saturday were the fourth-most ever in program history for a true freshman, trailing Ron Dayne's all-time mark of 339 and two others.

"Every week I practiced real hard, and to do what I did in practice [this week] and [the game] today, I think every week you get more comfortable with the offense and every week you play you gain experience," Brown said. "Now every week, I'm proving myself over and over."