Coming into Saturday's annual Cardinal-White spring scrimmage game, Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez had a lot of questions about his football team.
How would senior quarterback Jim Sorgi respond to his role as starter? Would the special teams improve on last season's less-than-stellar performance? How could he prevent the sort of season-ending injury that happened to senior wideout Lee Evans last spring?
After the White squad (mostly reserves) bested the Cardinal squad (starters) 30-17, Alvarez said he did not necessarily get all his questions answered but liked what he found out anyway.
\All in all, I was pleased with the day,"" Alvarez said. ""I think we have a chance to be a nice team.""
The first-team offense struggled at times, putting up just seven points on junior running back Anthony Davis' 47-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. Starting senior quarterback Jim Sorgi completed 10 of 18 passes for 90 yards and had two interceptions, the second of which glanced off his intended receiver and into the hands of sophomore defensive back Levonne Rowan, who had two picks on the day.
Still, there was a lot of confidence in the first-string offense after the game.
""I thought the play was good,"" said Evans, who's still rehabbing his knee injury and should be ready for action when training camp starts. ""A lot of people made plays. A lot of people were out there [being] competitive.""
Many of those people were in the Badgers' increasingly potent receiving corps. Sophomore Brandon White led all receivers with three catches for 51 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown reception from junior quarterback Matt Schabert in the second quarter. Returning starter, sophomore Jonathon Orr, had four catches for 38 yards and sophomore Brandon Williams, who had 52 catches last year, had three receptions for 41 yards.
""A lot of different people had catches, so we spread it around pretty well and that's always good,"" Evans said.
The performance of the special teams was a mixed blessing for the Badgers. Junior kicker Mike Allen, who hit the game-winning field goal in UW's 31-28 overtime victory over Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, made both of his field goal attempts Saturday, connecting from 39 and 44 yards.
""That kick in the bowl game really gave him a lot of confidence and he was much improved throughout the spring,"" Alvarez said.
On the other hand, punting remained a problem for the Badgers. Saturday's scrimmage saw two punters take snap-junior R.J. Morse, who has been UW's starter for the past two years, and freshman Adam Wozniak. Morse had a slight edge over Wozniak, averaging 32.8 yards per punt to Wozniak's 27.7. Alvarez said he still had considerable worries about the punting game.
""I'm not satisfied with that yet,"" Alvarez said. ""That's probably my biggest concern right now.""
After Evans' injury last spring, Wisconsin did its best to protect the safety of its players Saturday. No tackling was allowed in the first quarter-the only quarter most of the starters were on the field. Even after that, there were not many hard hits. One scary moment came early in the game, however, when junior cornerback Scott Starks lay on the turf writhing in pain for several minutes after breaking up a pass. After receiving some medical attention, Starks walked off the field and returned to action a couple of plays later.
""There's a fine line between getting a team ready, how much you hit and how much you don't hit,"" Alvarez said.
