P.J. Hill was getting upset.
He was tired of being tied at home against an opponent that had the gall to do some sort of pre-game war dance at center field. He was tired of all the offensive three and outs. But mostly he was tired of the goose egg the offense had left on the scoreboard through the first 37:49 of play.
"First half we weren't doing so well," Hill said. "We had a halftime talk and knew we had to get on the ball and play better football."
Hill took it upon himself to change all of that.
So with 7:11 remaining in the first half, Hill took the hand off and started to follow fullback Bill Rentmeester before seeing a sliver of open field and cutting back to his left. He split two defenders, breaking a pair of arm tackles, and then spun like a dreidl on Hanukkah, to get in the open field.
And then, there was nothing but green.
Hill rumbled down the right sideline all the way into the end zone, giving the Badgers a 7-0 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"When I got out of it I saw an opening, daylight, and I know I just had to put on the speed and get as much as I could," Hill said of the play.
For the second time in as many weeks Hill carried the Badger offense, this time netting 186 yards on 26 carries, good for a 7.1 yards per carry. While the Badger defense pummeled the Aztec offensive players, Hill was doing the same to the defenders, bowling over SDSU players with a kamikaze running style.
"P.J. Hill, again, just a guy that has a lot of resiliency during the course of the game, also just his energy and his excitement," Bielema said. "But the best news is he's only a freshman. He's going to get better every day, not just every week, he gets better every day."
But despite all of the success of the running game (Dywon Rowan ran for 79 yards on only six touches) the Badger offense was stagnant and mostly ineffective.
How, you ask, can an offense that rakes up just shy of 300 yards on the ground be ineffective? Zero passing attack.
Wisconsin's offense was largely a one-dimensional one as the Badger passing game was totally absent Saturday, with senior quarterback John Stocco and the all-new receiving corps continue to struggle getting on the same page.
"I think some of them were just missed throws, things I have to hit," Stocco said. "I just missed too many throws that I usually don't.
"I really don't feel good about the passing game at all coming off of this win," said starter junior wideout Paul Hubbard. "It's a win, but it's a real ugly win. You can't have 85 yards passing in a game and expect to say that we had a good game."
Stocco completed just 12 of 23 passes for a paltry 85 yards, with 31 of those yards coming on the Badgers' final drive of the contest when the outcome was no longer in doubt. The entire passing game just never seemed to be in synch, with receivers dropping several passes and Stocco continuously missing the mark.
"To be honest with you, I really can't tell you [what was wrong]," Hubbard said. "We had plays set up to be successful, it was just missed opportunities and failed opportunities when we didn't cash in on the plays that were given to us."
Regardless of the reason, the Badgers realize that they will have to have a more balanced attack if they are to have a chance on the road against No. 6 Michigan next Saturday.
"There's still a lot we need to improve on," Stocco said. "Michigan's obviously a very good team."
"We gotta have more yards in the passing game to be able to win against big teams like Michigan and the rest of those guys in our conference," Hubbard said.
One thing is for sure: Hill will be ready to go, again.
"We're going to be amped up for that game," Hill said. "This is the first Big Ten Conference game, so we just gotta prepare and go out and play football."