For the entire first half of Wisconsin's football game against No. 19 Fresno State Saturday afternoon, the Badgers outplayed the highly-touted Bulldogs, scoring early and often to take a 20-10 lead after the first 30 minutes of play.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, the Badgers had to play two halves against Fresno State.
The Bulldogs scored 16 points in the first 2:30 of the second half and held Wisconsin scoreless for the final two quarters as Fresno State defeated the Badgers 32-20.
'In the second half it was like we were never there,' defensive end Wendell Bryant said. 'We play like that in first half and to come in and do [what we did] in the second half, it's unacceptable.'
Mike Allen's 50-yard field goal with 4:36 left in the second quarter gave Wisconsin a 10-point advantage going into the second half, but the Bulldogs chipped away at that lead on the first play of the third quarter.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, Fresno State's Brian Berrian found a seam in the Badgers' kickoff coverage and outran the Badgers' entire special teams unit on his way to a 96-yard touchdown. The Bulldogs converted on the ensuing two-point conversion to pull within two.
'I really felt that the kickoff return in the second half really swung the momentum,' Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez said. 'We never seemed to recover after that.'
UW got the ball back with a chance to widen its lead, but Fresno State's Tierre Sams intercepted sophomore quarterback Jim Sorgi's pass and returned it four yards to the Badgers' 31-yard line.
Four plays later, Bulldogs senior quarterback David Carr connected with Rodney Wright across the middle for a 16-yard touchdown pass. Fresno State then converted on another two-point try to take a 26-20 lead with 12:26 left in the third quarter.
UW's next three offensive possessions ended with two punts and an interception, and Fresno State took a 29-20 advantage on Asen Asparuhov's 34-yard field goal with 1:14 left in the third quarter.
The Badgers couldn't do anything in the fourth quarter either, as UW gained just 74 yards on its next 14 plays. The Badgers turned the ball over on downs on their final three drives of the game.
'It just all comes down to executing,' junior wide receiver Lee Evans said. 'We didn't execute as well as we should have.'
Wisconsin's anemic second half was a polar opposite from its fast start in the first half. Sorgi took the Badgers to the end zone on the first drive of the game, which went 72 yards in four plays.
After a punt on Wisconsin's next drive, Sorgi connected with Evans for a 53-yard touchdown pass to put the Badgers up 14-7.
'I thought the first half offensively we were able to keep them off balance, which allowed us to run the ball and throw,' Alvarez said.
Evans had yet another solid game for the Badgers, hauling in seven catches for a career-high 182 yards. Evans now has 100 or more yards receiving in three straight games, becoming the third Wisconsin receiver to accomplish that feat.
