The Badgers’ 24-21 victory over Iowa Saturday was redemption for Wisconsin players and coaches, who have suffered heart-breaking losses at the hand of the Hawkeyes the past few seasons. The offensive most valuable player was junior quarterback Tyler Donovan. Donovan started under center in place of injured quarterback John Stocco, who had previously started 35 games in a row. Donovan silenced his critics, going 17-of-24 for 228 yards and two touchdowns. Also, Donovan demonstrated some fancy footwork, running 13 times for 61 yards.
On the other side of the ball, defensive back Ben Strickland and strong safety Joe Stellmacher took home the weekly honor. Strickland, starting in place of injured cornerback Allen Langford, led the team with six tackles and also broke up a pass. Stellmacher had himself a day, making five tackles in addition to breaking up a career-high three passes.
UW head coach Brett Bielema was most notably impressed with the efforts of his spot starters.
"They are guys that sat in every meeting, took advantage of every practice, took advantage of every workout in the winter, in the spring and in the summer to get where they are today," Bielema said. "Their chance to shine came Saturday, and both of them performed at a very, very high level. I think it's a great testament to what our group of kids are all about and how they respond to adversity."
Stocco update
Since the team did not practice Sunday or Monday, neither Bielema nor the coaching staff knows for sure if quarterback John Stocco will be able to play in his last game at Camp Randall. Against Penn State, Stocco went down with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter after being hit by PSU linebacker Sean Lee.
"I don't know how much polish time that he needs to get ready for a game," Bielema said. "He'll definitely watch film and learn as much as he can off of that. If he is able to play next weekend, he'll be the starter."
If Stocco is not able to go Saturday, Tyler Donovan will once again be starting quarterback.
No. 9
This week, the Badgers made a considerable jump in the standings due in large part to losses by Texas and Louisville. Wisconsin is now ranked No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and No. 12 in the Associated Press Poll. However, the biggest jump was made in the Bowl Championship Series standings, where Wisconsin is currently ranked No. 9, moving up from No. 15. Despite the recent publicity, Bielema is focusing on Buffalo, preaching the "1-0" mentality he has pushed all year.
"It's nice to receive a certain ranking in certain polls, but that based on what you have done and it can all be taken away from you in a matter of a weekend," Bielema said.
Although the Badgers have broken the top ten in the BCS standings, they will probably be left out of a BCS bowl game because of the success of Ohio State and Michigan, who will likely represent the Big Ten.
Coaching P.J.
This season, Bielema has had the opportunity to coach one of the nation's up-and-coming stars in running back P.J. Hill. Although Hill only ran for 77 yards and one touchdown against Iowa, he is still the Big Ten's leading rusher, averaging 131.5 yards per game. Despite his impressive statistics, Bielema believes the true freshman has a lot of room to grow and improve as a player.
"The best thing about having a freshman in the roll that he's in, as he gets more and more involved in his career, he'll get better every day," Bielema said.
Hill is the third Wisconsin running back, along with Ron Dayne and Anthony Davis, to have 1,000 rushing yards as a freshman. He is also the fifth freshman in Division I history to break the 1,000-yard rushing mark in seven games or less. The others are Emmitt Smith, Marshall Faulk, Adrian Peterson and Jamario Thomas.
