If Saturday's football game against West Virginia had ended after 1:16 into the first quarter, there would not be any doubts regarding this season. No one would have questioned how senior quarterback Jim Sorgi will fare this season after playing backup to Brooks Bollinger. No one would worry about pass protection or the strength of this year's defensive line. But, unfortunately, the game did last more than 1:16 and many of these questions remain even after a 24-17 Wisconsin win over the Mountaineers.
Special teams showed strength right out of the gate after senior linebacker Alex Lewis blocked a punt and junior linebacker Kareem Timbers fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Badgers the early lead and their only lead until the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers came back quickly after the blocked punt with an 80-yard kick-off return, but the Badgers were able to stop the drive and discredit the play by limiting West Virginia to a field goal. However, on West Virginia's subsequent possession, senior running back Quincy Wilson found his way into the endzone for a touchdown.
Wisconsin did not score a touchdown until the fourth quarter and didn't get back on the scoreboard after the early touchdown until senior kicker Scott Campbell connected on a field goal in the third quarter and UW's two touchdowns in the fourth quarter capped off a 17-point comeback.
Sorgi remained calm despite a tough defense by the Mountaineers and demonstrated his athleticism on several occasions by running the ball himself. He ended the game with 215 yards on 20-for-34 passing and one touchdown.
\I thought Jim played particularly well,"" Alvarez said, according to Badger Nation. ""Some of his throw-a-ways, they were the right move. When his guys were covered down he threw the ball away. He ran the ball. He flushed well; he read the zone well and pulled it and got some good yardage on the edge. I just thought he was pretty sharp today.""
The big story of the weekend had to be the comeback of senior wide receiver Lee Evans, who had not played since his two knee surgeries in the spring of 2002. After he failed to return last year, and a second knee surgery, his solid performance Saturday went a long way to ease the collective worries of fans that were unsure of how successful the former all-American would perform. He had seven receptions for 70 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter. All in all, Evans showed no outward signs of any trouble.
""We tried to get him the ball and get him involved,"" Alvarez said. ""I think you will see steady progress week-to-week. It was almost like a switch went on when he caught that ball. He wasn't going down. It kind of reminded me about some of his old runs.""
Junior running back Anthony Davis continued his tradition of strong rushing, adding 167 yards on 30 carries, wearing down the defense and averaging 5.6 yards per carry. After two consecutive seasons as 1,000-yard rusher, Davis looks to make this year no different, as he tries to follow in Ron Dayne's footsteps of rushing for at least 1,000 yards in all four seasons at Wisconsin.
Despite good results from Davis and Evans, there were some areas of concern for the Badgers. There were four occasions in the first half where Wisconsin was unable to convert decent drives into points and poor performance on special teams that included two field goal misses.
In rebounding from the slow start, Wisconsin seemed to find its rhythm in the fourth quarter. The Badgers scored 14 points in the last quarter of play in addition to a key defensive stop on fourth down with two yards to go inside the West Virginia 35-yard line.
This was the fourth meeting between the two teams. The Badgers have a 4-0 record, including last year's meeting at Camp Randall 34-17. Wisconsin's first home game is Saturday against Akron.
