Wisconsin Has 3 regular season games left

Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema discussed both his team's 34-13 victory over Purdue this past weekend, as well as the Badgers' (4-1 Big Ten, 8-1 overall) upcoming contest against Indiana during his weekly press conference Monday.

Bielema awarded this week's offensive MVP to sophomore running back Montee Ball, who saw increased action after junior John Clay and sophomore James White suffered injuries.

 Ball was instrumental in the Badgers' victory, racking up a career high 127 rushing yards while scoring two touchdowns.  

"Can't say enough about Montee and what he did … getting himself prepared and stepping in when John [Clay] went down in the second half," Bielema said. "Montee was really special."

The defensive MVP was awarded to a pair of juniors: cornerback Antonio Fenelus and defensive tackle Patrick Butrym.

 Fenelus was the Big Ten co-defensive MVP of the week, racking up nine tackles and icing the game with an interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Butrym, meanwhile, dominated the trenches all game long, recording five tackles.

"[Butrym] probably had the best game in his career to this point," Bielema said. "He just really did a nice job getting off blocks and making plays."

Bielema indicated he was excited to return home this week, realizing how long it had been since the Badgers' last home game-a victory over then-No. 1 Ohio State.

As Bielema reflected back on that game against the Buckeyes, he realized how big of a factor the crowd was in the team's victory, especially the student section. On their last road trip, Bielema stated that it was always a little disheartening to go to different venues and see other student sections filled an hour before the game even started. Bielema then issued a challenge to all UW students.  

"Anything we can do to encourage students … If we can get the student section going, I think it would be a very special thing to close out the rest of the year," Bielema said.

Bielema realizes that every game from here on out is critical in the Badgers' run to a possible BCS bowl game, and that run will start this weekend against Indiana.

Indiana (0-5 Big Ten, 4-5 overall) comes into this week's game having just lost an 18-13 nail-biter over No. 16 Iowa. Indiana is an explosive offensive team, ranking 11th in the nation in passing yards per game. That offense is led by senior quarterback Ben Chappell, who ranks first in the Big Ten in both passing yards and completions.

"Chappell has a great ability to throw all kinds of passes," Bielema said. "It's a very difficult preparation. He doesn't get sacked very often because if he does get pressured he's not gonna take that sack, he's gonna get rid of the football. It's a difficult preparation for us."

This will be the 57th meeting between Wisconsin and Indiana, with the Badgers leading the series 36-18-1 overall and 20-8-1 in Madison. Wisconsin has won five of the last six at Camp Randall Stadium.

Lets hope Bucky can keep on rolling.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two More Badgers make preseason watchlists.

Badger senior wide receiver David Gilreath and sophomore linebacker Chris Borlandwere both named to preseason watch lists for major college football awards, it was announced Tuesday.

Gilreath was named to the watch list for the inaugural Paul Hornung Award which is given to the most versatile player in major college football, while Borland is up for the Dick Butkus Award which is presented to the top linebacker in the country.

The Hornung Award list was created based on 2009 statistics and expectations for the 2010 season. Gilreath is one of 48 players on the list, which will be whittled down to 10-15 finalists at the end of the regular season. A winner will be announced in early January.

A preseason second-team All-Big Ten selection at punt returner by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports, Gilreath has gained over 4,000 all-purpose yards in his three-year career. In 2009, Gilreath gained 615 yards on kick returns, 177 on receptions, 117 on punt returns and 75 on rushes. The school's record holder for kickoff return yards in one season, Gilreath has averaged 104.8 all-purpose yards per game in 39 career contests.

Borland was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a first-team freshman All-American in 2009 after starting each of the final six games for UW. He recorded 54 tackles, 10.5 TFLs and 5.0 sacks while ranking third in the Big Ten in both forced fumbles (5) and fumbles recovered (3).


It is great to see Badger players getting the accolades they deserve.   GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Montee Ball Getting ready for Football

It wasn't exactly a horror-film compilation, though there were scenes that made Montee Ball want to cover his eyes.

Five times during the offseason, the sophomore tailback for the University of Wisconsin football team sat down and watched, from start to finish, a DVD distributed to him by running backs coach John Settle that consisted of each of Ball's 98 carries during his freshman season.

The clips were shot from video cameras located in the end zone, giving Ball a clear view of how each play developed. It was a good learning tool, even though there were times Ball wanted to reach into the screen and smack himself on the helmet.

"It's the worst," he said earlier this week. "You make a move inside, and then when you watch on film and you see daylight. You could have scored a touchdown going outside with it."

There was plenty for Ball to be happy about from his true freshman season. As a backup to Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Year John Clay, Ball finished with 391 rushing yards and four touchdowns despite not making his season debut until Week 5 at Minnesota. The highlight was a 31-28 victory at Indiana in which Ball, who took over after Clay left the game because he felt sick, finished with 27 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns.

But Ball's film study confirmed to him that he left some yards on the field in 2009. Ball averaged 4.0 yards per carry, gained three yards or less 56 times — or 57 percent of his total attempts — and was stopped for a loss 16 times, or about once every six carries.  

Lets hope Montee can become the next John Clay.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers get thier picture taken

The 2010 Wisconsin football season is quietly approaching as we're less than two months away from the opening of fall camp. Another indication that the season is almost upon us is that the 2010 senior class met on Wednesday night to shoot the team poster.
The 13 seniors were joined at Quarry Park in Madison around 7:30 p.m. last night by the photographer, stylist, members of the marketing department, a couple managers and director of operations, Mark Taurisani.The players donned their jerseys and game pants upon arrival before making the short trek from the park entrance to the shoot location. Before reaching the actual shoot, the players gathered at an opening in the park to ready themselves.The goal was to have the players looking dirty and grimy so the guys were instructed take mud off the dirt path and rub it on themselves, likely much to the chagrin of the equipment room staff who will end up having to wash the uniforms.Lance Kendricks got things started by dropping right to the ground and rolling around in the mud. Others were more cautious and either had the stylist help apply mud or chose to simply rub some into their pants or jersey. Isaac Anderson followed Kendricks' lead and rolled around in the mud as well, while others made liberal use of the eye black. Jay Valai took to rolling around on the ground too, but ended up finding himself in a big puddle, soaking his entire backside.After the players were finished prepping themselves, we walked a little further down a path to where the photographer had all his equipment set up. Surrounded by trees and rocks, the players positioned themselves on a small hill.It took a few minutes to get everyone in the right position as the terrain provided adequate space, but not necessarily the best footing for guys to keep their balance. Once everyone was finally set, the dry ice was brought in to provide some effects.The dry ice added an extra challenge to the shoot as not only was there a race to get the shots in before the sun went down, but also to get the shots before the ice dissipated or ran out entirely. After some quick maneuvering to get the ice in a better position, the rest of the shoot went off without a hitch.The players seemed pretty happy with how things worked out.Gabe Carimi called it a success, adding that the dry ice provided a little bit of chaos but it all worked in the end.The 2010 posters will make their debut at the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon in Chicago on Aug. 2.
Lets hope the Badgers can live up to the hype. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!