Led by quarterback John Stocco, the cardinal squad erased a 31-point deficit to earn a 38-34 victory over the white squad in the spring game Saturday.
In the annual inter-squad scrimmage, the cardinal squad, which is made up of the UW starters, opens the game trailing 24-0 against the UW reserves, who make up the white squad.
Already leading by the traditional 24 points, the white squad capitalized on a special teams miscue by freshman wide receiver Paul Hubbard to take a 31-0 advantage early in the first quarter. Attempting to return a punt, Hubbard fumbled the ball into the end zone, and tight end Joel Nellis recovered it for a touchdown.
Then Stocco and the cardinal took over. With his team down 31-0, Stocco connected with junior wide-out Jonathan Orr for a 63-yard touchdown pass to put the cardinal squad on the board.
Minutes later, fullback Matt Bernstein rumbled into the end zone from the five-yard line to cut the deficit to 31-14 heading into the second quarter.
In the second frame, the cardinal squad continued to chip away at the white team’s lead. After opening the quarter with another impressive drive, the starters inched closer with a 24-yard field goal from senior Mike Allen.
After Allen’s kick brought the score to 31-17 with 8:47 remaining, Stocco found tight end Owen Daniels in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass that cut the white squad’s lead to 31-24 with 1:15 remaining in the first half.
Daniels’ reception capped a 24-0 run that sent the cardinal squad into halftime trailing by just seven points.
“Owen Daniels continues to impress and improve,” head coach Barry Alvarez said. “He’s a guy that can really create problems for a defense because of matchup problems. He can be a tight end and he can line up wide. He continues to get better as a receiver and a blocker.”
After engineering a remarkable first-half comeback, Stocco was replaced by redshirt freshman Tyler Donovan to open the second half. Closing out an impressive spring in which he solidified his position as the Badgers’ starting quarterback, Stocco unofficially finished with 202 yards and two touchdowns, connecting on 12 of 18 passes.
“He threw the ball very well,” Alvarez said of Stocco’s performance. “I thought he had some tough throws and really had a nice rhythm. He put the ball where it had to be.”
Donovan, who struggled for the white squad in the first half, switched sides in the third quarter to lead the cardinal attack. With Donovan taking over for Stocco on the cardinal team, true freshman Sean Lewis, who graduated high school early in order to participate in spring practices, stepped in as the quarterback for the white squad.
In the third quarter, both sides were held scoreless and the cardinal squad entered the final quarter trailing 31-24.
Then wide receiver Brandon White came alive. Described as the best route-runner on the team by Alvarez and wide-receivers coach Henry Mason, White found an opening in the secondary and connected with Donovan for a 40-yard touchdown that tied the score at 31-31 with 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.
After surrendering 31 unanswered points, the white squad briefly halted the cardinal run. A kickoff return from freshman wide-out Luke Swan set up a Mike Allen field goal that gave the white a 34-31 lead with just over five minutes to play.
But the white squad could not contain White, who broke through with another clutch reception. With 2:53 remaining in the game, White sprinted past the secondary and danced into the end zone for a 48-yard touchdown that gave the cardinal a 38-34 lead.
After a quiet first half, White exploded for an unofficial total of 88 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. His pair of touchdown receptions, which each traveled over 40 yards, sealed the victory for the cardinal squad.
“His last two catches were really big time,” Alvarez said of White’s fourth-quarter performance.
Trailing for the first time in the game, the white squad could not mount a comeback, falling 38-34. But the reserve squad’s performance drew praise from Alvarez after the game.
“They played hard,” Alvarez said. “There wasn’t anything easy out there. You think maybe your ones are going to go out there and run the ball all over the place and do things at will, but they had to work for everything.”