Wisconsin’s annual spring football game, usually a light-hearted off-season event for Badger players and fans, cast a shadow over next season when Heisman Trophy candidate receiver Lee Evans injured ligaments in his left knee.

Evans leapt amid White defenders late in the first quarter for an acrobatic 36-yard catch, but his leg bent awkwardly sideways on the landing. Evans, who will be a senior in the fall, initially tried to test his knee before lying back on the turf for several minutes as trainers rushed in.

Meanwhile, head coach Barry Alvarez and assistant athletic director Steve Malchow burst from the coordinators’ boxes and sprinted down to the field.

Alvarez confirmed ligament damage but said further tests were necessary to determine the severity and location of the injury.

Evans set UW-Madison single-season and career records in 2001, hauling in 75 catches for 1,545 yards and becoming Wisconsin’s all-time leading receiver with 2,255 career yards. He was a Biletnikoff Award finalist, and the Badgers listed him as a Heisman Trophy contender in the spring media prospectus.
UW’s most experienced wide-out, Evans declined to wear a green jersey that would have prevented other players from tackling him during the scrimmage.