Nov. 9, 2009

Full Transcript | Archived video of press conference

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema met with media members on Monday at his weekly news conference. Among the highlights, Bielema talked about the stellar play of the team’s underclassmen, Wisconsin’s ability to win the tight game and Michigan’s effective spread offense.

Youth serves against Hoosiers

Bielema named the Wisconsin Players of the Week as selected by the UW coaching staff. This week’s winners show the impact that some of the team’s younger players have had on the season.

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Nick Toon and true freshman running back Montee Ball were each named Offensive Players of the Week, while true freshman linebacker Chris Borland earned defensive honors and sophomore kicker Philip Welch was honored on special teams.

Toon set a career high with 123 receiving yards on five catches against Indiana, the highest yardage total for a Wisconsin receiver since David Gilreath gained 125 yards against Cal Poly on Nov. 22, 2008. Toon’s catches came at critical times as well, as four of his five grabs resulted in first downs after the Badgers faced third down.

The Middleton, Wis., native’s other reception was a career-long 44-yard reception that gave Wisconsin a first down at the Indiana 11-yard line. Toon was also recognized by Bielema and the catches after his performance against Northern Illinois where he caught five passes for 72 yards.

On the season, Toon has turned into quarterback Scott Tolzien’s top target. Toon leads the Badgers with 37 catches and 535 receiving yards. He has also been the team’s top wide receiver in four of 10 games, second on the team behind Isaac Anderson, who has had five such games.

“I had Nick down in my office yesterday, and I congratulated him,” Bielema said. “I said, ‘Hey, that’s a heck of a game… what I loved was his response to me. He goes, ‘Coach, I should have been doing that all along.’ Now I’m going to remind him of that. Now he’s got to do that. This is what we see on film. This is reality. This is what you can provide for us every week. And if that begins to happen, then we’ve got a pretty good situation.”

Ball also enjoyed a career day against the Hoosiers. He set career highs in rushing attempts with 27, rushing yards with 115 and rushing touchdowns with two. It was the most rushing yards by a Wisconsin true freshman since Zach Brown had 250 yards against Minnesota on Nov. 17, 2007.

He helped carry the load after starter John Clay, a redshirt sophomore himself, was injured and did not play in the second half.

Despite missing the first four games of the season, Ball has become the team’s third-leading rusher. He has gained 178 yards on 48 carries and scored three touchdowns. Since entering the lineup, Ball is second on the team in rushing, trailing only Clay and his 575 yards on the ground.

On defense, Borland had what Bielema called his “most complete game as a linebacker.” The Ketterling, Ohio, native had nine tackles, one short of his career high, 1.0 tackles for a loss of three yards and his first career interception.
This is the second time Borland has been honored by the UW coaching staff, as he earned Special Teams Player of the Week honors against Wofford after he blocked a punt and had four tackles.

“[Borland] continues to make impressive strides each week as a football player,” Bielema said.

Since missing a field goal in the third quarter against Iowa, Welch has made four kicks in a row. Against Indiana, Welch connected on a field goal from 26 yards, while also converting on all four extra point attempts.

“It didn’t kind of dawn on me until the next day that two of those guys are redshirt sophomores and the other two are true freshmen,” Bielema said. “Last week we recognized a couple guys that were freshmen as well.

“It’s interesting to see these guys come along and play good football down the stretch.”

Winning the close ones

The Badgers are a perfect 5-0 this season in games decided by eight points or less. A year ago, the team was 3-3 in such situations. Bielema attributes the team’s resiliency with the work they’ve put into this season.

“I think the heat you put on them during the out of season, during the winter conditioning, during the spring [is a reason the team has flourished],” Bielema said. “We really ratcheted up the level of intensity that you needed to be at every time we got together and practiced.”

It all started with the very first game of the year. Northern Illinois was trailing 28-20 in the fourth quarter but was marching down the field and threatening to score. Facing a fourth-and-3 at the UW 36-yard line, UW senior safety Chris Maragos broke up a pass that iced the win for the Badgers.

The following week saw Wisconsin rally from a deficit, give up a lead and go into overtime, but then bounce back and capitalize on a turnover to beat Fresno State. The Bulldogs held a 21-7 lead over the Badgers in the second quarter, but UW rallied and scored 17 unanswered points to lead 24-21 late in the fourth quarter.

Fresno kicked a field goal to force overtime, but an interception by Maragos in the second overtime enabled the Badgers to kick a field goal and get a 34-31 win.

Against Michigan State, Wisconsin was in control for most of the game, owning a lead as large as 38-17 early in the fourth quarter. The Spartans rallied for two late touchdowns to get the score to 38-30, but they could not recover an onside kick and the Badgers prevailed.

Wins at Minnesota and Indiana also featured Wisconsin coming back from early deficits to earn the win.

After falling behind 13-10 late in the first half, the Badgers rattled off 14 straight points to lead 24-13. The Gophers mounted a comeback and found themselves down 31-28 with 1:43 to play.

They would get no further than their own 34-yard line, however, as senior defensive end O’Brien Schofield sacked Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber and a forced a fumble that was recovered by Borland. The win kept Paul Bunyan’s Axe in Madison for a sixth-straight year.

The most recent example of the Badgers winning tight games came this past Saturday at Indiana. A UW turnover helped Indiana gain an early 7-0 lead, but Wisconsin answered with the next 17 points and the margin never got above 10 points for the rest of the game.

Indiana scored to cut it to a 31-28 Wisconsin lead and kicked away with 4:01 to play, hoping to get a defensive stop and get the ball back. The Badgers would not cooperate and instead ran out the clock thanks to key running by Ball and a clutch catch by Toon.

“I think everybody likes to pride themselves on being someone that can come through under pressure,” Bielema said. “You don’t want to be that guy that, if you’re playing a basketball game, they call a timeout, and everything is designed not to get you the ball.

“You want to be the guy that’s getting the ball. You want to be the guy that should be put on point and is able to come through in the most difficult of times.”

Spreading it out

While Michigan may be 5-5 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten, its offense has not seemed to be the reason for their woes. The Wolverines lead the Big Ten and are ranked 24th in the country in scoring, putting up 32 points per game.
The passing game is only ninth in the conference, but the ground game is No. 1, averaging 208.3 yards per game, a mark that ranks 16th in the NCAA.

“They have skilled athletes all over the place,” Bielema said of Michigan’s offense. “If you look at their receptions, they’ve had a variety of guys make big plays. [Roy Roundtree], this past Saturday, comes in and makes 10 catches. They’re able to distribute the ball.”

Under center, the Wolverines have primarily used true freshman quarterback Tate Forcier. He is familiar to Bielema, as Forcier actually attended one Wisconsin’s camps.

“I remember him being out there,” Bielema said. “He came with his father. When I watched [Tate], I was thinking this kid has got some ability.

“I think he can make plays both with his feet, with his arm, and then mentally, he’s one of those kinds of guys.”
As the offense goes, so go the Wolverines. The team is 5-1 when scoring at least 31 points and 0-4 when failing to reach that mark.

A strong defensive effort by the Badgers on Saturday could give Wisconsin a fitting tribute to its seniors in their final game at Camp Randall Stadium.