Even with a convincing 38-27 victory over the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (0-1 ACC, 0-3 overall), Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez was not completely happy with the performance of his Badger squad (3-1 overall).
\That's my job as a coach,"" Alvarez said. ""You look at the positives, but you worry about the negatives, and certainly that wasn't a clean game. We've got some things to clean up, and we have to play a lot smarter.""
First and foremost on the minds of the coaching staff is the kickoff game. Tar Heel senior kick returner/cornerback Michael Waddell began the game with a 97-yard kick return for a touchdown.
""It just takes the wind out of you,"" Alvarez said, describing how the kickoff return for a touchdown affected the Badgers. ""You got your team ready. You work hard all week. You're focused, and you come out of the locker room raring to go and a guy goes [97 yards] untouched. It just takes the wind right out of you.""
Waddell finished the game with four returns for 176 yards, a 44 yard average. Freshman wide receiver Mike Mason, opposite of Waddell on the Tar Heel kick return squad, had 70 yards on two returns for UNC. The performance of the UW special teams gave Alvarez a cause for concern.
""I'm just sick about how we cover kicks,"" Alvarez said. ""That really puts the defense in a tough situation. Probably the best thing we could have done all day was kick it out of bounds. Those are things we can correct, though. We may put some starters on there if we have to.""
The kicking game is not the only aspect of Badger play that concerns Alvarez. For the second week in a row, a defensive back made his first and second career interceptions off of senior quarterback Jim Sorgi.
Last week, it was UNLV's junior defensive back Jamaal Brimmer. This week it was UNC's sophomore safety Mahlon Carey. Carey had two interceptions Saturday, including a key interception in the Badger end zone to stop Wisconsin from a potential scoring strike.
??""It's still a concern because we did foolish things,"" Alvarez said. ""The kickoffs, that's just poor football, and we just got to do a better job of that. The taunting call late in the game; not playing hard on the last series of the game.""
In the last series of the game, it looked like the defense did not finish the game. In one minute and 18 seconds, North Carolina drove 70 yards to score a touchdown as the clock wound down. The pass defense was porous as second string senior quarterback C.J. Stephens went four for seven for 60 yards and a touchdown.
There were positives though. Wisconsin established its running game with third-string running back freshman Booker Stanley. Stanley went for 119 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries, 87 yards coming in the second half.
""I was very pleased with our offensive line and the No. 3 tailback,"" Alvarez said ""That doesn't happen all the time. The O-line did a great job of blocking, and he did a great job of running.""
Junior safety Jim Leonhard got his second interception of the season, returning it 54 yards to set up the final field goal for UW. Leonhard had 11 interceptions last season. The interception sealed the game for Wisconsin late in the fourth quarter.
However, there are still many glaring problems that need to be addressed before the beginning of the Big Ten season next Saturday at Illinois. If the kickoff game is not fixed, the Badgers may not be as fortunate to come out of the game with a win.
