Providing a much-needed boost out of the backfield in Wisconsin’s 31-14 win over Illinois Saturday was not former Heisman finalist Montee Ball, the tailback who faced enormous expectations coming into this year.
Rather it was James White, the quick-footed junior running back known more for his flashy cutbacks than his runs between the tackles. Though White gained just 15 yards on the ground in the first half, his most important contribution came on a 62-yard screen pass he took into the end zone for Wisconsin’s (4-2, 1-1 Big Ten) first score.
With the Badgers down seven and the offense failing to piece together a promising drive, White used his agility to cut past several defenders and, with the help of a few key blocks, take the momentum away from Illinois (2-4, 0-2).
“They showed kind of a pressured look, and I had a feeling I was going to be wide open. I just got in my landmark, looked straight ahead and it was wide open,” White said, letting out a quick laugh as he finished explaining the play. “So I just ran straight.”
But he wasn’t done yet. White – who came into the game with just 171 yards through five games – made the most of his carries, needing only two of them in the second half to pick up 27 yards. On consecutive runs near the end of the third quarter, on the drive that would give the Badgers a 10-point lead, White helped Wisconsin establish control with rushes of five and then 22 yards.
Still listed as UW’s No. 2 running back, White has been affected more than any other player by the explosive play of redshirt freshman Melvin Gordon, who has consumed a significant portion of White’s carries.
While the rushing offense struggled to find its footing in the first half (the three tailbacks combined for just 40 yards), the offensive line showed shades of its former dominance late, and the run game followed suit.
“They have confidence in the backfield now [after] this game, and up front we’re confident now too,” left guard Ryan Groy said. “It’s not like we’re leaving the field feeling salty; we’re leaving feeling good; we know we can establish the run game. … We knew we could do it all year and it’s finally good to show that.”
White said his 42-yard rush performance against a leaky Fighting Illini defense provided a major confidence boost, and he may have even helped Ball take charge in the fourth. Ball said his teammate’s success “put a fire under me,” and so it would appear, as Wisconsin’s premier back erupted for 97 yards and his second touchdown in the final 15 minutes.
White slipped back onto the bench for the final quarter, but Ball loved seeing his roommate and close friend ignite the offense. It is, after all, a friendly rivalry.
“He deserved it; the man deserved it,” Ball said. “He’s always just kept his head down in a good way – not complaining, not pointing the finger, just kept grinding in practice.”
Won’t get fooled again
They had been fooled once, but they weren’t about to be fooled again.
After allowing Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez to spark an offensive charge on the ground and rush for 107 yards a week ago, the Wisconsin defensive line came back with a vengeance against another dual-threat quarterback in Illinois’ Nathan Scheelhaase.
Sacking the mobile quarterback four times – tying a season high – the Badgers’ four-man front limited Scheelhaase to 3.8 yards per carry. While the quarterback went on to finish with 84 net yards on the ground (24 lost on those sacks), the defense never allowed him to grow comfortable in the pocket.
They had learned their lesson.
“Having faced a guy like Martinez last week, we got ourselves in the mindset where we wanted to contain him more, and this week we wanted to pressure more,” defensive tackle Ethan Hemer said. “We didn’t want to pass rush scared. So we came into this game with a more aggressive mindset.”
Tearing the Badgers’ defense apart in Lincoln was the quarterback draw, a designed run play for the speedy Martinez. But linebackers Chris Borland and Ethan Armstrong said Illinois tried its hand at a similar play and found little room to run.
Though Scheelhaase did break out for a 29-yard scamper early in the third quarter and darted for 24 more in the second, he didn’t find the holes Martinez took advantage of a week ago.
“Scheelhaase obviously came alive on a couple plays up inside,” head coach Bret Bielema said postgame. “But I’ve been stressing to our defensive guys and give a lot of credit to our staff – if we can just line up and play and make them earn every inch, they’re going to be hard to score on.”
With four different players – Hemer, defensive tackles Beau Allen and Pat Muldoon and defensive end Tyler Dippel – each credited with a sack, the defensive linemen had trouble hiding their smiles postgame. After helping keep Wisconsin in the game early as the offense floundered, the big men up front finally had some numbers on the stat sheet to back up their play.
“I knew from the beginning of the year turnovers, sacks, that was all going to come,” Hemer said. “And when they come, they come in bunches.”
