Wisconsin moved to a 5-0 record with a 31-10 victory over the Arizona Wildcats Saturday afternoon at Camp Randall. Unlike the Badgers’ other four victories, Wisconsin played like an undefeated team.
“Our players responded this week and were really into [the game],” head coach Barry Alvarez said. “I thought we played well in all three phases of the game today.”
The Badgers were able to move the ball during each of their first few possessions of the game, although they were unable to score before the period ended. It was a positive sign from an offensive unit that had gone three and out to begin each of the previous games.
Anthony Davis scored the first Wisconsin points of the day on the first play of the second quarter. Davis ran off tackle to the right before spinning off a defender and powering into the end zone from six yards out. It was the first of two Anthony Davis touchdowns on the day.
On the following Wildcat possession, the Wisconsin defense stood its ground and forced a punt after three plays. With Arizona punting from its own 20-yard line, Alex Lewis was able to penetrate the Wildcat offensive line and stretch out to block the punt. David Braun recovered the blocked punt on the Arizona three-yard line. Anthony Davis punched it in for UW on the following play to put the Badgers in front 14-0 with 13:45 remaining in the first half.
The blocked punt was just one of several impressive plays made by the JUCO transfer. Lewis finished with nine tackles on the day, three of which were for losses. Fellow linebacker Jeff Mack paced the defense with ten tackles, including four solo efforts, but it was Lewis’ play that changed the game.
“Alex always sets a tone,” corner B.J. Tucker said. “Coaches are always telling us that everybody should play balls out like Alex. He comes in and plays hard every day, and we appreciate that.”
The Badgers continued the offensive outburst late in the second quarter by engineering two more scoring drives before the half. The first drive of ten plays and 96 yards was capped off by a Brooks Bollinger to Jonathan Orr touchdown of 17 yards with 4:07 on the clock, making the score 21-0.
Wisconsin added one more score before the half ended. Scott Campbell hit a 32-yard field goal to push the Badger lead to 24 after the offense was set up by a Jim Leonhard punt return of 21 yards.
The 24-point second quarter was achieved through a fairly balanced attack. After Wisconsin’s running game was held in check for the last few weeks, coaches used spread formations to help open up running seams for the backs. The game plan worked, as Wisconsin was able to run for 141 yards in the first half and 260 yards on the day. Tailback Anthony Davis finished the day 110 yards on 16 carries.
The spread was also an effective formation for UW’s passing offense. Bollinger finished the day a very efficient 13-19 for 127 yards and at one point in the first half was 9-10 for 108 yards.
“We had to complete passes or the guys that covered the flanks would squeeze back inside and take the run away,” Alvarez said. “There is no use lining up in [the spread] if you can’t throw it and catch it, because they will just ignore it. So it was very crucial to the game plan that we were successful throwing.”
Arizona’s offense found brief life in the second half when Clarence Farmer took the handoff from Jason Johnson and ran 70 yards through the UW defense for Arizona’s first points of the game.
“Our kids played well, but they did have that one long run,” said defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove. “They caught us in a blitz, and we’d have liked to have got him down. Just because you blitz doesn’t mean they should go all the way. I thought the kids bounced back.”
With the score 24-7 and momentum seemingly swinging toward the Wildcats, the Wisconsin offense answered back with a statement drive of 15 plays. The Badgers moved the ball from their own 20 and methodically worked their way down the field until Bollinger capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. The drive drained 8:31 from the game clock and featured the type of smash-mouth running football Wisconsin had lacked all season. Of the 15 plays, 12 plays were designed runs.
“It was definitely a turning point in the football game,” offensive coordinator Brian White said. “Football is a game of momentum shifts, and certainly there was a ton of football left in that game. We’ve seen leads evaporate very quickly, and to be able to answer that [touchdown] certainly took a lot of the life out of them.”
The final points of the game came with 8:12 left in the fourth quarter, when Sean Keel connected on a 27-yard field goal. Arizona was not able to threaten again.
