Wofford Terriers @ Wisconsin Badgers Post Game

The Wisconsin Badgers capped off their 3 game non conference start to their 2009 campaign in perfect fashion. Finishing with a record of 3-0, and the third game was by far their best. Wisconsin, as most expected, dominated the Terriers of Wofford offensively, defensively, and the newest arrival, stellar special teams plays that turned this game into a laugher early. Wofford, a triple option style offense, had a very predictable attacking style that the Badgers were able to exploit and keep them from making any big plays. With the lack of a passing attack, Wofford was subjected to having 8 people in the box anticipating the run and dozens of blitz looks that confused the Terriers and forced them into yardage losses and 3 and outs.

The first quarter of this game left little to be desired as 3 consecutive fumbles rushing the ball from both the Badgers who had two of the fumbles and the Terriers, made this game appear to be one that was going to be painful to watch with turnovers. Because of the lack of execution and inability to possess the ball, only a Philip Welsh 36 yard field goal was the only points on the board at the end of the first quarter.

The Badgers really were able to turn on the fire in the second quarter however as they exploded for a combined 28 second quarter points with two passing touchdowns for starting quarterback Scott Tolzien to tight end Garrett Graham and number two tight end Lance Kendricks, a four yard burst from third string running back Eric Smith, and the best play of the second quarter was the blocked punt attempted that eventually rolled into the end zone and was recovered by the Badgers David Gilbert for a touchdown. That four yard touchdown run was produced by Eric Smith because the head coach had seen enough of the John Clay and Zach Brown’s inability to hold onto the football. So coach Brett Bielema went to his final option on the depth chart and Smith did not disappoint in his rare playing time. Going into halftime, the Badgers had a commanding 31 point lead and all phases of the game were hitting on all cylinders.

Coming into the third quarter, the Badgers cooled off a bit from their hot second quarter. The Wofford Terriers did not get on the board until late in the third quarter when running back Austin Palmer was able to punch the ball into the end zone from seven yards out. Just before the end of the third quarter, the Badgers answered with a two yard touchdown run by starting running back Zach Brown. Going into the fourth quarter and the traditional Camp Randall “Jump Around,” the Badgers were ahead 37-7 after Philip Welsh whiffed on the PAT after the Zach Brown rushing touchdown.

The fourth quarter was just as quiet as the third quarter, however scoring flip-flopped as the Badgers were able to get the ball back and score on another two yard touchdown run by Zach Brown. After this score, the Badgers offensive starters were taken out of the game to give their reserves some playing time. Deep into the fourth quarter Wofford tacked on a meaningless touchdown on a one yard plow by Austin Palmer and that would be all the scoring this game had to offer.

Wofford coach Mike Ayers had multiple questionable calls through this game. Known as an aggressive head coach, he has no problem putting his faith in his team and goes for just about every fourth down within 5 yards. A few times in this game, that aggressiveness came back to bite him as Wisconsin was able to stuff quite a few of these attempts and get the ball with great field position.

Quarterback Scott Tolzien had another stellar performance against the Wofford Terriers passing for a modest 159 yards, but two touchdowns to go along with it. Leading the way in rushing was backup quarterback Curt Phillips who, despite carrying the ball only 4 times, really made them count as he ended his day with 92 rushing yards with a 37 yard naked bootleg being the biggest gainer of them all. John Clay ended the day with a respectable 70 yards on 12 rushes but was uncharacteristically unable to find the end zone. His counterpart Zach Brown, however, was able to find the end zone twice in this game to go along with his 63 total yards rushing. The one real negative thing the Badgers will take away from this game was the ineffectiveness of their wide receiver reverses where after being so successful last week against Fresno State, only resulted in negative yardage this week as David Gilreath, on two attempts, ended the day with a -13 yards rushing.

The Badgers will open up the Big Ten conference schedule with a matchup with the puddle jumping Michigan State Spartans at Camp Randall Stadium. Michigan State, after coming off a heart breaking loss to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, will no doubt be looking for revenge and a great start to the Big Ten conference season. Keys for the Badgers in this upcoming game, like any other Wisconsin Badger football game, run the ball effectively and own the time of possession category.

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