After a season plagued by a high ankle sprain that occurred in the opening quarter of Wisconsin’s Sept. 16 loss to UNLV, junior tailback Anthony Davis entered the Music City Bowl as the starter. With a question mark hanging heavily on his health and durability, Davis carried the ball 17 times for 77 yards for an average of 4.5 yards per carry. It was Davis’ best performance since his 18-carry, 98-yard effort against Purdue.

“I thought A.D. played pretty well,” head coach Barry Alvarez said. “He got what was blocked, and I thought his vision was pretty good.”

Davis finished the season second on the team with 605 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Sophomore tailback Dwayne Smith led the team with 856 yards and nine scores. Smith carried the ball four times for just one yard against Auburn, ending the Badgers’ hopes to extend the program’s 1,000-yard rusher streak at 10 consecutive seasons with a back reaching the mark.

“It didn’t happen this year,” quarterback Jim Sorgi said of the streak. “It would have happened this year. If A.D. stays healthy, or if Dwayne’s the No. 1 guy, we’re going to get our 1,000-yard rusher. But it wasn’t the goal of the game to keep that streak alive; the goal of the game was to win the game. The streak will start again next year.”

Stocco moves up to No. 2 on depth chart: During the month of practices in preparation for the Music City Bowl, redshirt freshman John Stocco moved in front of junior Matt Schabert on the team’s depth chart at quarterback.

Stocco played well in relief in the Badgers’ Nov. 22 27-21 loss to Iowa. The Richfield, Minn., native came into the Badgers’ Big Ten finale after Jim Sorgi received a concussion and Schabert was pulled because of inconsistency. Stocco recorded 84 yards, completing five of nine passes.

The freshman was called to duty after Sorgi went down late in the fourth quarter after a ferocious sack from Karlos Dansby that re-injured his already tender left forearm. Stocco completed four of seven passes for 34 yards, while also taking the brunt of a Dansby sack.

“He’s definitely got an opportunity to take the job,” offensive tackle Morgan Davis said of Stocco eventually becoming the starter. “He doesn’t have to necessarily learn the offense better, but he has to get into a better rhythm with us.”

And it might be the Badger offensive line needs to find some rhythm, as the unit gave up six sacks in the game and had shown problems in pass protection for much of the season.

What sets Stocco apart is his on-field calm as well as his ability to make plays while on the run. Though Schabert has the most experience of the returning group of quarterbacks, Stocco appears to have taken the role of the frontrunner. The two will be pitted against each other, as will redshirt freshman Tyler Donovan, as UW offensive coordinator Brian White and quarterbacks coach Jeff Horton search for their next starter.

Auburn claims first SEC victory in Music City Bowl history: The Southeastern Conference, which has been a participating member in the Music City Bowl since its inception in 1998, earned its first-ever victory in the bowl with Auburn’s 28-14 victory over Wisconsin. Last season Minnesota defeated Arkansas 29-14 in Nashville in the first time the Big Ten had participated in the Music City Bowl. Previously, the bowl pitted the SEC against the Big East, with West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Boston College all winning in previous contests.