Head football coach Barry Alvarez was careful in dishing out praise for his team when he addressed the media Monday following the Badgers’ 38-27 victory over North Carolina.
Although happy with how the team bounced back after an embarrassing loss to UNLV, Alvarez expressed concern with the Badgers’ special-teams play after North Carolina returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and had another called back due to penalty.
“We looked to see where the breakdown was,” Alvarez said. “In this case, we made some mistakes in kids knowing what their responsibility was.”
Alvarez and the coaching staff have begun to look at the depth chart to see if players not currently on special teams could make the unit more effective.
“This time of year with game-planning, it’s not like we’re having tryouts,” Alvarez said. “In this case, we’ll take a look at a few people. After reviewing [the special-teams unit], there’s no question that we can repair it.”
Alvarez was happily surprised with the play of third-string running back Booker Stanley in Saturday’s game. The freshman from Milwaukee rushed 28 times for 119 yards and three touchdowns in the most extended action of his career. With Anthony Davis in street clothes and backup Dwayne Smith going down with injury, Stanley filled in and answered the call admirably.
“I don’t know if he carried the ball in the first two games, and all of a sudden it was put in his hands,” Alvarez said. “He played solid and didn’t have any breakdowns. It’s pretty special for a third-team guy to do that. It’s nice to have someone else you can rely on.”
Alvarez is pleased with the progress his young back showed against the Tar Heels.
“He’s further along than Brent Moss was at this time, and there are some similarities between them,” he said. “We expect him to get better with more repetitions, and we expect him to be a very good player.”
The performance of the offensive line also impressed Alvarez. Sophomore center Donovan Raiola told Alvarez the linemen wanted to take over the game through their running attack. “After Sorgi’s interception, the offensive line asked to take over,” Alvarez said. “I like to hear that because that shows me the offensive line has confidence in what they are doing. That means a lot to me.”
Quarterback Jim Sorgi also applauded the line’s initiative.
“When you have a line like this, the running game just happens naturally,” Sorgi said. “The holes they were opening for our backs were good to see.”
The solid ground game quickly tightened the North Carolina secondary and allowed Sorgi to sit back and hit open receivers.
“It made it easier on me making decisions in the pocket and delivering the ball on time,” Sorgi said. “It just shows that I have five or six guys in front of me that want to win.”
Although the Badgers looked inconsistent in posting their 3-1 non-conference record, the team members feel they have the potential to accomplish great things heading into the Big Ten season. “We’ve been inconsistent, but we’re 3-1,” Sorgi said. “We’re a team that shows a lot of potential on both sides of the ball. I think we all know what the Big Ten regular season is like, and I think we all know what it takes to win.”
Coach Alvarez echoed that sentiment.
“We did a lot of good things in this last game on both sides of the ball,” he said. “We do things well in all areas. We just need to tie up some loose ends … We’re not where we need to be, but we have the potential to be a good football team.”
