By Brett Portnoy and Michael Bleach
Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema announced Monday wide receiver Maurice Moore is suspended indefinitely from the team following the UW senior’s arrest on suspicion of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
According a Madison Police Department report, Moore, 22, was taken to the hospital following a single vehicle car crash to be treated for minor injuries Sunday morning.
The Wisconsin senior — a redshirt junior eligibility-wise — was suspended by Bielema for last season’s Champs Sports Bowl.
“With Maurice Moore, Mo, I’m sure a lot of you has remembered, was suspended for the last year’s bowl game,” Bielema said Monday at his press conference. “And at different times, he and I have had discussions. I made him very aware that every day was going to be monitored from here on out, and obviously after [this] incident, he’s indefinitely suspended. He won’t be with us. And you know, right now actually, I haven’t had a chance, and Mo is still in the hospital. Everything’s checking out, but they’re keeping him there for some supervision. Should be out of there later today, and then we’ll have an opportunity to sit down and talk. We’ll give him all the support we can academically and in anything else that he needs to make sure he can have success. Right now it looks like he could possibly graduate by the end of this summer, so he might have an option further down the road with one year of eligibility left.”
Injury Updates
The Badgers sustained two injuries to very significant players Saturday at Indiana. Sophomore running back John Clay and sophomore right tackle Josh Oglesby were forced to leave Saturday’s game with a head injury and a knee injury, respectively.
“John Clay should be able to practice tomorrow,” Bielema said. “He basically got a little bit, I don’t know if it was a concussion, but he felt and was a little bit out of it in the first half. … He was sick to his stomach, and then at halftime, everybody said he was good to go, and when we were walking out, he wasn’t in a good situation to go out there. If we had to, he probably could have played the second half. I know he wanted to, but they kept him out. So he should be back full go.”
“Josh is getting some further tests done today on the knee that he injured Saturday, so we’ll know a little bit more about him later in the day. But he assured me he’s going to play … unless something pops up on those tests later today.”
Saturday’s Notable Performances
As happens after every UW win, the Badgers handed out game balls for offense, defense and special teams. Two youngsters picked up the award on offense with sophomore receiver Nick Toon and freshman running back Montee Ball carrying the slack on offense throughout the second half.
“Nick Toon probably played his most complete game since becoming a Badger and really did some good things for us, especially, obviously, the big play at the end of the game that solidified that last drive,” Bielema said. “And then Montee Ball for his performance, being able to step in there and do what he did.”
On defense, Bielema was particularly impressed with the performance of another true freshman, linebacker Chris Borland, who made nine tackles, including seven solo tackles, and recorded the first interception of his college career.
“[Borland] continues to make impressive strides each week as a football player, and then played his most complete game as a linebacker,” Bielema said.
Finally, on special teams, sophomore kicker Philip Welch was named MVP for his performance, which included one field goal, four extra points and several impressive kickoffs which prevented returns and put the Hoosiers back on their 20-yard line at the beginning of drives.
