COLUMBUS, OHIO - Traditionally, the Wisconsin Badgers have been known as a blue collar, smash-mouth football team. But in UW's 38-17 loss to Ohio State, head coach Bret Bielema did not hesitate to go to the bag of tricks.
One risky play that paid dividends for Wisconsin came on UW's first possession of the game. Facing a fourth and 12 from their own 47-yard line, the Badgers ran a fake punt pass to perfection.
Senior punter Ken DeBauche received the snap and drifted to his right pretending to search for a receiver downfield. At the same time, reserve punter turned special teams specialist Paul Standring snuck down the left sideline. DeBauche threw a perfect pass and Standring caught the ball in stride for a gain of 31 yards and a first down.
That's the same one that we ran last year versus Purdue,"" Bielema said. ""Instead of putting a better athlete in there, I put a second-string punter in there.""
Junior linebacker Jonathan Casillas ran the route in 2007 but dropped the pass.
While the fake punt pass ultimately resulted in Wisconsin's only points of the first half, a botched fake punt later in the game deflated the Badgers.
On fourth-and-three from the Wisconsin 27, DeBauche attempted to run for the first down. Yet, junior linebacker James Laurinaitis sniffed out the fake and tackled DeBauche for a two-yard loss.
""It was an alert against a look they had run previously on a prior snap,"" Bielema said. ""Basically, everybody got the alert that we would punt the ball except for Kenny. He was the only one who didn't get the communication. It was against a 4-3 look and that's not what we want to run it against.""
The busted play gave Ohio State excellent field position at the Wisconsin 25, and the Buckeyes needed only four plays to increase their lead to 31-17.
""It didn't end the game right there, but obviously it put a damper on the spirits on our sidelines and gave them momentum,"" Bielema said.
In addition to the two fake punts, Wisconsin also attempted a reverse on a kickoff and an end-around play where junior tight end Travis Beckum had the option to throw the ball back to senior quarterback Tyler Donovan.
Beckum did not have enough time to throw the ball on the end-around play, and a block in the back penalty nullified the reverse on the kickoff.
Bielema pleased with Brown's performance
Despite a fumbled handoff between Donovan and freshman running back Zach Brown, Bielema said overall, he was pleased with Brown's play in his first start as a Badger.
""I thought he would play the way he did,"" Bielema said. ""He's not afraid of anything. ""From Wednesday on, we had a feeling P.J. [Hill] wasn't going to be good enough to go on Saturday.
""I just liked the way he came in. He didn't have big eyes. For the most part he did a pretty good job in protection as well.""
Brown finished the game with 63 yards on 20 carries.
Checking the returns
According to Bielema, freshman returner David Gilreath suffered a strained hamstring which pressed junior Marcus Randle El and freshman Maurice Moore into action on punt and kick returns in the second half.
