ANN ARBOR, MICH.—Despite a solid first-half effort and a good defensive game, the UW football team's attempt to upset No. 6 Michigan fell short, losing 27-13. Sophomore wide receiver Mario Manningham burned Badger cornerbacks for 113 yards and two touchdowns while senior Steve Breaston gave the Wolverines great field position all game long.
""It's a huge missed opportunity [for us], they're a good team and we played tough for a while,"" senior linebacker Mark Zalewski said. ""We didn't finish the way that we would like to, we just have to learn from this and get ready for next week.""
""You can't argue with the way [we] started,"" head coach Bret Bielema said. ""It's something we can build upon.""
The game started off perfectly for Wisconsin as sophomore cornerback Allen Langford picked off Wolverine quarterback Chad Henne on Michigan's first drive, Langford's first of two picks on the day. On the subsequent Badger drive, freshman running back P.J. Hill dominated with 23 rushing yards and capped the drive with a 29-yard touchdown reception to give Wisconsin a quick 7-0 lead.
UW's defense held strong in the first quarter as they stopped Henne's quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one in the red zone to keep Michigan scoreless. However, Henne got his revenge early in the second quarter. Breaston returned a punt 29 yards before Henne hit Manningham for a 24-yard TD pass to tie the game at seven.
Momentum shifted toward Wisconsin once again as they took the lead with a Taylor Mehlhaff field goal late in the second quarter. The defense stood strong and forced another Wolverine punt and it appeared the Badgers would take a lead into halftime. But in what ended up being the turning point of the game, senior Zach Hampton fumbled the punt return and Michigan recovered. A Garrett Rivas field goal tied the game 10-10 to go into halftime.
With the Badgers receiving the opening kickoff after halftime tied with the No. 6 team in the nation, Wisconsin certainly hoped to come out with some fire. The fire never came, however, as dropped passes, penalties and missed opportunities gave UW no shot at winning the game.
After a quick three-and-out after halftime, senior defensive back Roderick Rogers had an interception go through his hands, and that would be one of the last momentum-changing opportunities the Badgers would get.
On four drives in the third quarter, Wisconsin gained a total of 12 yards. The defense continued its stellar play but was on the field for nearly the entire quarter and Henne and Manningham made them pay once again with a 38-yard touchdown connection to put Michigan up by seven at the end of the third quarter.
""Manningham's a tough receiver, we knew they were going to him in the red zone,"" Stellmacher said. ""We just came up short on stopping those go routes.""
The fourth quarter brought much of the same, as the Badger offense continued to go without first downs until two meaningless drives at the end of the game. After Breaston returned another punt for 27 yards at the beginning of the fourth, junior running back Michael Hart finally busted through the UW run defense to score a five-yard touchdown and put the game out of reach.
""The key to the game was field position,"" Stellmacher said. ""Every time the defense took the field it felt like we were in our own territory.""
The Badgers' vaunted running game ended the game with only 12 rushing yards and senior quarterback John Stocco completed only eight of his 22 passes to wide receivers while being sacked five times.
Wisconsin's next game is on the road Saturday against Indiana.
