The Badgers ended their spring practices with the Cardinal and White battling to a 14-14 tie in the football team's annual spring game this past Saturday in Lussier Stadium at Madison La Follette High School.
The White team was spotted a 14-point-lead prior to the start of the game. The Cardinal team failed to cut into that lead until late in the first half, when junior quarterback John Stocco found senior wide-out Jonathan Orr in the back of the end zone for the first score of the afternoon.
The 26-yard score, which came with 35 seconds left in the second quarter, capped off a productive day for Orr, who finished with maybe the most impressive performance of the day. He accumulated 72 yards on five catches in only one half of play.
After the first half, the Cardinal team played strictly on the offensive side of the ball, while the White team participated in only defense. The second half was devoted solely to the backups, allowing the reserves to prove to their coaches and fans what they can do in actual game situations.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Donovan needed a switch in colors. After a dismal first half, in which he completed only one pass for six yards with the White squad, the second half proved to be a sigh of relief for the Hartland, Wis. native.
Donovan ended the day completing seven passes for 83 yards, including a third-quarter 43-yard touchdown toss, with which he hit Marcus Randle El in stride as the sophomore wide receiver streaked into the end-zone. For Donovan, settling on being a backup to Stocco, who completed less than half of his 29 attempts for 158 yards, does not seem like the simple answer.
\If I keep playing good and being more consistent and being athletic and showing I can make plays when things break down ... the sky's the limit,"" Donovan said.
Head coach Barry Alvarez refuses to be content with the quarterback situation, making sure to assert that this is not the level of play he expects next fall.
""I'm never comfortable going in until you see them on game day. There's only so much you can do against yourself,"" Alvarez said.
The Badger faithful got their first glimpse of transfer running back Brian Calhoun, as the junior from Colorado rushed for six yards on seven attempts and caught two passes out of the backfield for a total of 16 yards.
Calhoun said ""it was good to get the kinks out. Obviously the offense didn't go the way we wanted to. But we got some positive plays, so we have something to build on.""
On a day of red zone inefficiency, overthrown balls and dropped passes, the defense shined. Junior defensive back Zach Hampton came up with an interception and freshman linebacker Josh Neal displayed a terrific ability to make open field tackles. Both showed defensive coordinator Bret Bielema their ability to make things happen against a tough Badger first team.
""We find out Zach Hampton's a guy that can go play the ball, just as Josh Neal is a loves to hit, the defensive line does a good job getting their hands up and knocking the balls down,"" Bielema said. ""So those are strengths you gotta find out just by watching and observing and that's going to continue to grow and be part of our defense.""
Also making strong impressions were freshman running back Bill Rentmeester, who gained 30 yards on six carries, and junior wide receiver Jeff Holzbauer caught two passes for a total of 19 yards.
Notably absent from the game were freshman quarterback Bryan Savage, sophomore running back Jamil Walker, senior defensive back Brett Bell and senior wide receiver Brandon Williams.
