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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bielema not in favor of 9 game conference schedule

University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema touched on a variety of newsworthy topics in an interview Monday with local media at the annual Big Ten Conference Football Media Days.

Minutes after hearing commissioner Jim Delany say it’s likely the Big Ten will go to nine conference games in the near future, Bielema probably voiced the opinion of the coaches when he said:

“I know one conference that did it is the Pac-10 Conference and they’re trying to do everything they can to get out of it. Maybe we ought to look at history.”

The biggest argument Bielema has against it is the imbalance created by having half of the teams with five conference home games and half with four.

“In this conference, a home game is a tremendous advantage,” Bielema said. “Years you have five versus years you have four, I bet you would be a dramatic difference.”

Bielema didn’t seem to mind that Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor was tabbed by the media as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, even though UW junior running back John Clay returns after winning the award last year.

“I’m glad it was (Pryor),” Bielema said. “John’s got enough things on his plate, with Heisman talk.”  

It is going to be very interesting how the Big Ten expansion will affect the Badgers.  I hope we will still have seven games a year at Camp Randall.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers place six in Big Ten Player Rankings

Here is the complete list of the Best 25 players in the Big Ten according to ESPN:

No. 25: Wisconsin DE J.J. Watt
No. 24: Illinois RB Mikel LeShoure
No. 23: Iowa DT Karl Klug
No. 22: Northwestern LB Quentin Davie
No. 21: Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins
No. 20: Ohio State LB Brian Rolle
No. 19: Wisconsin QB Scott Tolzien
No. 18: Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi
No. 17: Ohio State WR DeVier Posey
No. 16: Wisconsin LB Chris Borland
No. 15: Wisconsin G/C John Moffitt
No. 14: Indiana WR Tandon Doss
No. 13: Purdue WR Keith Smith
No. 12: Ohio State LB Ross Homan
No. 11: Wisconsin LT Gabe Carimi
No. 10: Purdue DE Ryan Kerrigan
No. 9: Ohio State G Justin Boren
No. 8: Penn State G/C Stefen Wisniewski
No. 7: Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor
No. 6: Penn State RB Evan Royster
No. 5: Iowa S Tyler Sash
No. 4: Wisconsin RB John Clay
No. 3: Ohio State DL Cameron Heyward
No. 2: Michigan State LB Greg Jones

No. 1: Adrian Clayborn, DE, Iowa

It is great to see the Badgers have six in the top 25 and better yet to see Heisman Hopeful John Clay is in the top four. I think the Badgers are going to crush it this year at Camp Randall. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring Football Flop

Kickoffs were nonexistent, some scores counted for double and the quarterbacks looked more prepared for a Christmas party than a football game, wearing green practice jerseys over their cardinal or white jerseys.
Yes, Saturday’s spring game was just that — a spring game. However, despite the final score reading 33-11 in favor of the Cardinal (first team plus key reserves), very few Badgers were happy with the day’s offensive production.
“We need to be better than that in the fall,” starting quarterback Scott Tolzien said. “It’s good for us to have a setback like that, as long as we use it to our advantage to realize that there’s a sense of urgency here and we gotta have a great offseason to move forward.”
While the negative attitude may seem exaggerated given the date of the game, both the Cardinal and White squads had lackluster days on the offensive end, particularly in the red zone.
Starting at the 30-yard-line to prevent injuries on kickoffs, the Cardinal managed only two field goals on its first two drives and ended the first quarter up 6-0.
In the second, Tolzien led the first teamers down the field for a touchdown on a two-yard Montee Ball touchdown run. The sophomore was starting in place of John Clay, who has been held out of all spring practices after offseason ankle surgery.
“I feel that we got beat on the line of scrimmage. I feel like I could have made better reads too,” Ball said. “I got a lot of work to do and I’m taking pride in it over the summer.”
The Cardinal would score again shortly before halftime, this time on a seven-yard run by Ball. The first team managed only five more points in the second half, though, three on another Philip Welch field goal and two on a safety.

Lets hope with all the returning starters that the Badgers can turn it around come fall. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger Offense is ready to Rock N Roll

The Wisconsin Badgers were a well-oiled machine in the 2009 season. There were certainly some kinks along the way, but for the most part, many would call a 10-3 record and bowl win over Miami a successful year.
That was last year, though, and while many faces remain the same, 2010 presents a new team.
“You have to remember that it’s a new season and it’s a new team and we have new goals and there are new challenges,” senior offensive lineman John Moffitt said.
Moffitt and the rest of the offensive line will be responsible for protecting a Wisconsin attack that looks very similar to the 2009 team. Returning for the Badgers are senior quarterback Scott Tolzien, as well as the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, junior running back John Clay.
For his part, the Wisconsin offense will rely on Clay to deliver a performance at least as dominating as he had in the 2009 season. Last year, Clay led the Big Ten and ranked eighth in the country with 1,571 yards—an average of over 116 yards per game— and scored 18 rushing touchdowns.
But once again, 2009 was last year, and 2010 will pose different challenges for Clay, who will be under pressure to defend his Big Ten honor.
“I just [have to] motivate myself... [and establish] some goals and try to achieve more as a team perspective than my own individual goals,” Clay said.
Clay is currently recovering from an offseason ankle surgery and has missed the entire spring practice schedule while on crutches, but will be ready to return to action in June for conditioning. In fact, Clay said his recovery is ahead of schedule.
I think the Badger Football Team will do well this year with all the offensive fire power they have. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers Beat Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl

The game plan was simple: play tough physical football, control the clock and leave the Champs Sports Bowl with a win and a 10-3 season.
That’s exactly what the Wisconsin Badgers did Tuesday night, dominating the No. 14 Miami Hurricanes 20-14 at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Considering it was essentially home game for Miami, the result was especially impressive on a cold night in Orlando.
“What you have to understand a little bit with Wisconsin is we kind of take a boxer’s mentality offensively,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “Wear you out, wear you out, throw the body punches. Eventually that cumulative effect will be a ‘W,’ and that was what was able to happen.”
After just 23 seconds, however, the game appeared to be headed in a different direction.
On the game’s opening kickoff, Miami’s Graig Cooper took the ball back 84 yards to the Wisconsin 6-yard line. Following a 10-yard penalty for an illegal block in the back, Cooper took the ball outside for 16 yards and the score, putting the Hurricanes up 7-0 early.
The game’s final 59:37 was all Wisconsin, though.
Behind quarterback Scott Tolzien and running back John Clay, the Badgers did exactly what Bielema wanted them to do: they wore Miami down until they were unable to stop the UW rushing attack.
Clay, who was named the game’s MVP by the media, finished with 121 yards rushing on 22 carries and a pair of touchdowns despite missing significant portions of the second half due to injury.
Tolzien, a junior who surprised many people when he earned the starting role in fall camp, was poised and effective, passing for 260 yards while completing 19 of 26 attempts. He did have one turnover, an interception in the second quarter, but the Wisconsin defense backed him up as Miami lost 19 yards on the drive and punted after going three-and-out.
After the game, Tolzien credited his strong performance to his development throughout the 2009 season.
It was great to see the Badgers get a 10 win season, not only for the existing players but also for recruiting. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers VS Miami Champs Sports Bowl 2009 Orlando Florida December 29th

It's official. It will be Wisconsin Badgers VS Miami Hurricanes, Champs Sports Bowl, December 29th 2009. The Badgers will bring their solid run game to Orlando Florida. Miami is better known for their passing attack.

Nick Toon, Scott Tolzien, John Clay all need to bring their "A" game. The crowd will be loud, and decked out in Miami colors. Rest assured, Wisconsin Badgers fans will make the trip, and represent our state, but Miami fans have to drive just a few hours to the Florida Citrus Bowl stadium.