Archive
Tolzien guides Badgers to Big Ten title
MADISON — For the past two decades, Wisconsin has always been a run-first program. Over the last few weeks, the Badgers have been running wild, while opponents had little hope of stopping them.
On Saturday, when they needed a win to clinch a share of the Big Ten title, it was the passing game that really made the difference offensively. In his final home game, senior quarterback Scott Tolzien delivered one of the top performances of his career.
“Scott’s a guy that takes advantage of every opportunity, every play,” UW head coach Bret Bielema said. “He made a tremendous check there at the line of scrimmage on that last deep ball to David [Gilreath], that was all him.
“He had a huge strike there that just kind of finally put the dagger where it needed to be.”
Tolzien passed for 230 yards and four touchdowns on the day, while connecting 15 times on 19 pass attempts. He found five different receivers on the day, including four passes apiece to Nick Toon, Lance Kendricks and David Gilreath.
For his four touchdowns, Tolzien connected with Toon twice, while finding Kendricks and Gilreath for one score each. Kendricks led the way with 80 yards receiving, while Gilreath added 75 and Toon had 62.
“We have playmakers all over the board,” Kendricks said. “We deserve it.”
Kendricks’ four-catch performance came in less than 30 minutes of play, as the senior tight end left the game with an injury following his 29-yard touchdown reception with 3:14 to go in the second quarter.
Tolzien finally came out of the game himself following a timeout in the fourth quarter, earning a big ovation from a packed house at Camp Randall Stadium. When his name was announced during the pregame Senior Day festivities, he drew even bigger cheers.
With his performance, Tolzien had a passer rating of 250.1, which marked the fifth-best single-game pass efficiency in school history. On the season, Tolzien has a rating of 169.8 while completing 74.3 percent of his passes.
After running back Montee Ball got things rolling with three first-half touchdowns to put Wisconsin up 21-3, Tolzien delivered the next four touchdowns for the Badgers.
“I think it starts with the running game, and kind of always has,” Tolzien said. “Even a prelude to that, just the way the offensive line has been playing. They really got the ship rolling early and it really makes it easier on the passing game.”
Replacements, bold moves key in victory at Iowa
IOWA CITY — When talking about his football team, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema likes to say that it’s not what happens, but how you react to what happens. You can’t react much better than the Badgers did Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
Two days before a pivotal Big Ten matchup with Iowa on the road, Bielema alluded to a number of veteran players that might not be able to go against the Hawkeyes. Come game time, Bielema and the Badgers found themselves without two key players: Nick Toon and Jordan Kohout.
“Brian [Lucas] hit me up early this morning and wanted to confirm the starting lineups, and I basically said ‘I wish I knew,'” Bielema said. “There was as much as seven of our starters that weren’t sure who was going to play or go or not.”
As the game wore on, Wisconsin lost Lance Kendricks, Peter Konz and James White to injury, while John Clay and Mike Taylor battled injuries at various moments in the game.
Even with all of that, the 10th-ranked Badgers came away with a 31-30 victory over the 12th-ranked Hawkeyes, putting themselves in excellent position in the Big Ten title race in the process.
“Iowa is a great team, and they had a great defensive four up front,” Gabe Carimi said. “We came out there and attacked it and got a ‘W’.”
With Kendricks out, tight ends Jacob Pedersen and Jake Byrne stepped up, grabbing four balls for a combined 42 yards. In place of Konz, the Badgers shuffled the offensive line without missing a beat, moving Bill Nagy from tight end to center.
But at no position was there a more impressive replacement than in the backfield.
Relegated to third on the depth chart with the emergence of White, sophomore Montee Ball‘s opportunities have been few and far between this season. But when called upon in a big moment, Ball reacted better than anyone could have expected.
“I stay ready and kept my mind right,” Ball said. “I’m very proud. I had a talk with [running backs] coach [John] Settle, and I told him that I was going to leave it in God’s hands. God has a plan for me and I just felt like it happened today.”
Carrying the ball three times, Ball picked up 18 crucial yards on the ground in the game. More importantly, he broke the plane of the goal line just enough for the game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
With the effort of those called upon to step up in critical situations, the Badgers were able to play the game the way they wanted to, which included a number of bold moves by the head coach.
Trailing 13-10 and facing 4th-and-1 on the Hawkeyes’ 2-yard line in the third quarter, the Badgers opted against the game-tying field goal. Instead, they went for it, and one of two Clay touchdown runs put them back on top, 17-13.
Later in the game, with UW trailing 30-24 late in the fourth quarter, Wisconsin got the look they were hoping to see from the Iowa defense on fourth down. The fake punt call was on, and punter Brad Nortman rushed for 17 yards, sending the momentum in the Badgers’ favor.
“It really did work out perfect,” Nortman said. “Our guys sold it perfectly and I went just about until I was about to drop the ball and it just all worked out perfectly. Once I saw it, I just knew we had the perfect play.”
Between the big games by replacements and bold moves in their play calling, the Badgers put together the most important reaction of the day. Following a program-defining victory over No. 1 Ohio State a week earlier, Wisconsin responded with another major win on the road over a Big Ten opponent.
Good teams pull off upsets at home, but it takes a great team to knock off a formidable opponent on the road.
“It was just four quarters of fanatical effort,” Bielema said. “Great individual efforts by some of our guys, but yet, unit efforts. Whether it be offense, defense or special teams, guys really had a tremendous amount of faith and executed.”
Minimizing mistakes key for Tolzien
MADISON — One year ago, Scott Tolzien learned just how tough it was to be a quarterback in the Big Ten Conference.
With four minutes to go in the first quarter of his third conference game as a starter, Tolzien dropped back to pass as his team looked to strike first against No. 9 Ohio State.
Suddenly, the pocket collapsed around the him. With three Buckeye defenders surrounding him, Tolzien fired a pass over the middle, hoping to avoid the first-down sack. Due to the pressure, his pass sailed well over the head of receiver Nick Toon, and into the arms of Kirk Coleman.
Instead of putting points on the board first at Ohio Stadium, UW quickly found itself trailing 7-0 after Coleman took Tolzien’s pass 89 yards the other way for the score.
“I just threw it late across the middle and threw it high,” Tolzien told reporters afterward.
That interception was just the beginning of what turned into a long day for Tolzien. Down 14-10 early in the second half, Tolzien found himself under pressure again, this time on second-and-17.
As Tolzien tried to find Isaac Anderson near the right sideline, Jermale Hines undercut the pass, tipping it to himself before finding the end zone and pushing the Buckeyes’ lead into double digits.
“I thought I could get it over the top of him, and it was too close to call,” Tolzien said. “At that point you shouldn’t throw it.”
In those two games, Tolzien’s pass efficiency ratings were 97.78 and 84.05, respectively. Since then, he’s averaged a 160.22 rating.
Just twice since that two-game stretch has Tolzien’s rating been less than 140: against Purdue on Halloween last season, and two weeks ago at Michigan State.
A little more than a year after the loss in Columbus, Tolzien sees his struggles at Ohio State in a positive light.
“It’s a part of my history and something that I’ve learned from,” Tolzien said. “You’ve got to be smart with the football. Looking back on it, I can almost view it as a blessing now just to have gone through that. You just see the way that affects the swing of the game.”
Based on his numbers, the biggest thing Tolzien would appear to have learned over the past 12 months is how to limit those kind of mistakes.
Following that two-interception performance, Tolzien added three more a week later in the Badgers’ loss at home to Iowa, giving him five in Wisconsin’s back-to-back losses. In 12 games since, the Badgers signal caller has thrown the ball away just five times, and never more than once in a game.
“Scott’s a great player,” Toon said. “He doesn’t make very many mistakes, but everybody makes mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.
“Obviously those were two plays we all wish we could have gotten back, but you’ve just got to move forward and clean it up for the next time.”
With the top-ranked Buckeyes boasting the Big Ten’s best pass defense while allowing the second-fewest points per game in the conference, Tolzien will face one of the toughest challenges of his career.
If he once again finds himself in the unenviable situation of having thrown an interception returned for a touchdown, it’s a pretty safe bet it won’t happen twice this time.
“It’s one thing if the first one happened, but don’t let it affect you in a way where you got to learn to make sure the second one doesn’t happen, and vice versa,” said Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema. “During the course of the game, it’s not what happens, it’s how you react to what happens. And he learned himself how to kind of turn those situations from negatives to positives.”
Five things to watch: Minnesota
MADISON — It’s Axe week. With the way the Badgers played in East Lansing, the rivalry game against Minnesota could not have come at a better time for UW. After suffering their first loss to Michigan State last week, Wisconsin’s focus is on keeping the Axe.
Before things kick off at Camp Randall today, BadgerBlitz.com offers a number of things to watch during today’s game, as well as a prediction.
1.) Can they get off the field?
When the Spartans needed a big play in the Big Ten opener, more often than not the Badgers were not able to stop them from getting it. Out of 18 third down conversion attempts, Michigan State was successful nine times.
More importantly, despite creating three turnovers, the Wisconsin defense forced MSU to punt just once the entire game. While the Gophers are not on the same level as the Spartans, a similar output by the defense would not bode well for UW.
To beat Adam Weber and Minnesota, the Wisconsin defense led by J.J. Watt will need to do a far better job of imposing its will, controlling the game and setting up the offense with opportunities to score.
2.) Under pressure
Everyone focused on third downs last week, but the real issue was a lack of success stopping Michigan State on first and second down. A lot of that had to do with an inability to pressure Spartans quarterback Kirk Cousins.
More often than not, Cousins threw the ball when he wanted to or was ready to, rather than when the UW defense forced him to do so. With another of the Big Ten’s top signal callers in Weber coming to town Saturday, pressure will be important against Minnesota.
The Gophers, along with the Badgers, are tied fourth in the Big Ten with just five sacks allowed this season. The Spartans, on the other hand, have allowed more sacks (11) than every team in the conference other than Northwestern.
It certainly won’t be easy, but the Badgers need to make Weber feel uncomfortable every time he drops back to pass.
3.) What happened to the passing game?
Wisconsin three non-running back stars on offense — Scott Tolzien, Nick Toon, and Lance Kendricks — were disappointing in the Big Ten opener, to put it lightly. In such a big game, those three should be expected to step up, not put up their worst performances of the season.
Minnesota’s defense has struggled to stop both the run and pass this season, but you can be sure they’ll focus more on the former this week. To open things up for John Clay and James White, Tolzien will need to be better than 11-for-25 for 127 yards.
4.) Not So Special Teams
For the second time this season, breakdowns on kick and punt coverage against MSU proved crucial. Against a team like Minnesota, the last thing Wisconsin needs is to let the Gophers keep things close with a special teams touchdown.
There’s little question that Wisconsin should easily retain the Axe for a seventh straight year. But even a team like Minnesota could make things interesting if the Badgers’ coverage units continue to struggle.
5.) Resurgence of Clay
Over the last two weeks, White has been far and away the better of the two Wisconsin running backs. His speed and quickness make him exactly the kind of dynamic runner the Badgers need to complement Clay.
Unfortunately for all involved, Clay has struggled to hold up his end of the bargain. Aside from a handful of impressive runs of more than 10 yards, Clay has looked slow, hesitant, and simply ineffective.
Perhaps no one in cardinal and white is looking forward to facing the Gophers than Clay. With their rush defense ranking 10th in the conference, Clay should have the perfect opportunity to show he’s still among the best offensive players in the conference.
Schelling’s prediction
On paper, this matchup looks like a 20-point blowout in the Badgers’ favor ready to happen. Minnesota is near the bottom of the conference in points scored and allowed. Wisconsin, on the other hand, is near the top in both.
With the motivation of a disappointing loss a week ago combined with their desire to retain Paul Bunyan’s Axe, the Badgers should have no trouble handling the Gophers. Still, a 22-point spread seems like a bit much. The only time UW has covered the spread this season was their 70-3 blowout of Austin Peay.
Keeping that in mind, I like Wisconsin over Minnesota, 38-20.
My 200th BH article
It’s ‘TOOOOOOOOOOOON Time’
By Jordan Schelling
The Badger Herald
A Schelling For Your Thoughts 
You must be logged in to post a comment.