Coaching can only take a team so far if the level of talent on the field cannot execute. Thus, it came as no surprise that The Daily Cardinal thrashed the listless Badger Herald squad 35-7 Friday at Vilas Park in the annual football contest.
Former Cardinal coach Eric Schmoldt could only stand by and watch from the Herald sidelines as his new team was torched by the precision passing of the Cardinal's Luke Behnke. The Cardinal reaped the benefits of the former city editor's loyalty, as Behnke passed for four touchdowns on the day. Features columnist Dan Tierney, sports writer/columnist Ben Hubner and Cardinal sports editor/coach Jon McNamara repeatedly exploited the shabby defense, finding the Herald offered a lack of coverage that no amount of Associated Press wire stories could fill.
The Cardinal dominated from the opening possession, with the defense keeping the Herald from reaching the midfield first-down marker. Soon after, the Cardinal found the end zone, as Hubner hauled in the first of his two scores.
After another defensive stop, Behnke found Hubner again and the rout was on. Connor McKnight's touchdown made it 21-0 shortly before the half.
The Herald desperately needed a fire-and-brimstone speech from Schmoldt to rev them up for the second half, but given their coach's previous precedent for throwing in the towel halfway through, they received little guidance.
Before the contest, Schmoldt justified his decision to leave his former team by accusing his replacement of chauvinism.
\I also did not want to have to work with a guy who ... fail[s] to realize that women's suffrage actually happened,"" he wrote. But when McNamara rolled out a lineup consisting entirely of women after the Cardinal pushed the lead to 28-0 midway through the second half, it was Schmoldt who looked stuck in the 19th century, failing to find enough girls on the Herald sideline that wanted to play to counter the Cardinal's feminist force.
Although sports writer Maria Boncyk's interception led to the only Herald score of the day, Boncyk responded with a long touchdown reception of her own to cap the scoring at 35-7.
McNamara was elated with the Cardinal's performance, but declined comment for this story, citing the likelihood that writers at other campus newspapers would just misinterpret anything he would say anyway.
The Cardinal is now undefeated in football since the 2001 season.
-from Daily Cardinal staff reports
