Advertisement
Was the Badgers’ decision to run the ball 63 times because they couldn’t throw or didn’t need to?
Senior quarterback Allan Evridge provided an emphatic answer in No. 11 Wisconsin’s victory over Marshall on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
Evridge threw for 308 yards and ignited a dramatic turnaround in which the Badgers scored 51 straight points after falling in a 14-0 hole early in the second quarter.
“Everybody thinks last week we didn’t throw because we couldn’t,” said Evridge, who attempted only 10 passes in the first game against Akron because the running game rolled up 404 yards. “But we were just running the ball so well. In fact, I think we could have done the same (throwing) last week, but we chose not to.”
The Badgers (2-0) did more than simply show off their balance. Running for 400 yards and having a 300-yard passer are epic achievements in school history and usually require vastly different skill sets for an offense. This is the first time in school history Wisconsin has done both in the same season — and it was amazingly achieved in back-to-back games.
“We knew we could throw the football,” Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. “It gave you guys something to write about for a week. The big thing we have coming forward, now we have a little bit of both on film.
“I’m sure Fresno State (next week’s opponent) was out there watching our game. They realize we can throw the football.”
Still, until the Badgers proved it in a game, there were going to be doubters, including Marshall coach Mark Snyder.
After watching tapes of last week’s game, Snyder had little choice but to throw everything he could at stopping the run and dare Evridge to beat the Thundering Herd (1-1) through the air.
“We wanted to see if he could throw the football,” Snyder said. “And he did. We wanted to make them beat us left-handed and, literally, he beat us left-handed.”
The left-handed Evridge did it despite a shaky start by Wisconsin on both sides of the ball. Evridge missed his first four throws and was pressured on every one.
The Badgers trailed 14-0 and looked discombobulated on offense when third-string tailback John Clay dropped the ball untouched in the backfield on his first carry for a 2-yard loss to start their third series.
On the next play, Evridge had both tight ends, Lance Kendricks and Garrett Graham, deep on one defender. Evridge chose Kendricks, even though it looked like Graham was breaking wide open. It took a perfect toss and a nice grab by Kendricks for a 36-yard completion that led to a touchdown and finally awoke the offense.
“We were really hurting ourselves with some mental errors,” Evridge said. “All you have to do is keep playing it one play at a time and eventually, one play leads to two and two leads to three. Just kind of that ripple effect happens and things will turn in your favor.”
The ripple became a tidal wave, with the Badgers scoring on eight of their next nine possessions, including seven touchdowns. Evridge really got rolling with three consecutive completions for 72 yards on the go-ahead drive that made it 17-14 just before halftime.
“They mixed a few passes in there, of course, that we weren’t expecting,” Marshall defensive end Ian Hoskins said. “Wisconsin, you know, who figures?”
It helped that Evridge had time to throw, after some early protection problems were fixed.
“It was a little safer back there,” Wisconsin center John Moffitt said. “You give him the protection, he’s going to do his job.”
The defense, meanwhile, dialed up the pressure on Marshall redshirt freshman quarterback Mark Cann, playing in his first road game. The UW defense had no sacks, but was credited with seven quarterback hurries and several hits.
“Once we got after him, the balls started going low, started going high, started going out quick when they weren’t supposed to,” UW linebacker Jaevery McFadden said.
The increased pressure led to three interceptions in the span of 13 offensive plays by Marshall to start the second half. Cornerback Niles Brinkley got it going with the first of his two picks on the first drive of the half. Free safety Shane Carter had the other.
It was the second straight game UW’s defense forced a turnover leading to a touchdown to start the second half.
“You see what it does, it changed the whole game,” UW cornerback Allen Langford said. “It got them going down. From that point on, we took over the game.”
Not to totally change their stripes, the Badgers returned to some grind-it-out football in the fourth quarter that left Snyder doubly impressed.
“The good Wisconsin of old, they’re back,” he said. “They took our manhood at the end of the game, too. They’re good at that. They started pounding us pretty good at the end of the game.”
