After being a sour point much of the season for Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez, the special-teams unit put together its best effort of the 2003 season Saturday against Penn State.
The Badgers caused two turnovers on punt returns, while return specialist/wide receiver Brandon Williams returned a kickoff 55 yards in the second quarter, setting up a Mike Allen 46-yard field goal in the second quarter.
Jim Leonhard’s 65-yard punt return for a touchdown provided the best indication that the unit had made a turnaround, and the score gave the Badgers a 23-9 lead. Leonhard was aided by a key block from tailback Booker Stanley, who clotheslined Penn State punter Jeremy Kapinos, giving Leonhard nothing but daylight to the end zone.
There was a lot of focus on the special teams this week. We needed it,” Leonhard said. “Coming in here, if we didn’t bring our special teams, we were going to get beat. I feel that was definitely the swinging point. We definitely won the special teams. And that was the difference in the game.”
Despite the success, there were some mistakes, including a roughing-the-kicker penalty committed by Alex Lewis in the first quarter.
Place kicker Mike Allen converted one of two field goals from beyond 40 yards. Prior to Saturday, Allen hadn’t been tested beyond 30, in limited action due to a hip injury. While he missed a 43-yard attempt, Allen connected on a 46-yarder showing an improvement of his leg strength. Allen, however, failed to convert the extra point after Leonhard’s touchdown.
Punter R.J. Morse was solid, averaging 41.9 yards per kick and booming a 49-yard punt to pin Penn State back on their 1-yard line with 29 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Safety a concern
Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson targeted tight end Matt Kranchick for most of Saturday’s game. Kranchick regularly burned Badger senior safety Ryan Aiello, and the fifth-year senior, who had only six receptions for 82 yards on his career and recorded 136 yards on four receptions, including a 73-yard touchdown catch.
Late in the game the Badgers replaced Aiello with junior safety Robert Brooks.
“Brooks just runs faster than Aiello and we at least thought we could put someone down there who could run faster than [Penn State’s] tight end,” head coach Barry Alvarez said.
After the game Alvarez said he was not going to make a decision regarding who will play the strong-safety spot next week, but the spot should be open to competition this week in practice.
Redshirt freshman Joe Stellmacher had filled in admirably for Aiello, winning the starting job for the UNLV game and performing well in almost exclusive coverage of the Rebels’ tight ends, but Stellmacher fell to a broken leg in last Saturday’s game against Illinois.
Injury report
Junior tailback Anthony Davis left Saturday’s game in the second quarter after aggravating his sprained ankle. Davis recorded 35 yards on eight carries for the Badgers in his first return to action since spraining his ankle against UNLV Sept. 13. Backup Dwayne Smith recorded 56 yards on nine carries before injuring his left ankle late in the third quarter. Senior Jeff Mack injured his left ankle in the third quarter after being rolled under by another player. Mack returned to middle linebacker in the fourth quarter after x-rays came up negative. The senior team captain was in a large brace after the game but is expected to play next Saturday against Ohio State. Junior Matt Katula filled in at middle linebacker. Junior defensive end Jonathan Welsh sat out most of the fourth quarter on what appeared to be a leg injury. Welsh recorded three tackles for a loss, including one quarterback sack and a fumble recovery.
