No. 11 Wisconsin showcased its rushing prowess against Akron Saturday, as P.J. Hill, Zach Brown and John Clay each surpassed the Zips' total yards on the ground. The trio accumulated 404 total yards and four touchdowns while Hill broke the 200-yard mark for the second time in his career.
After UW put up an early 17-0 lead, Akron responded with 10 points in the second quarter. The Badgers got it together in the second half to win 38-17.
That's Badger football. We play physical football straight at you,"" Hill said. ""Eventually it's going to wear you down.""
Hill carried the ball 26 times for 210 total yards and two touchdowns. Brown and Clay ran for 87 and 71 yards, respectively, and each made it into the end zone once.
""I'd probably give a game ball to our offensive line - just the way they controlled the line of scrimmage,"" head coach Bret Bielema said. ""They love a day like this. They relish in it. It is a personality that I like to set because I do think we're a physical football team.""
About once every seven plays, senior quarterback Allan Evridge changed it up and passed the ball. He went 7-for-10 for 75 yards with one interception and one touchdown in his debut as starter.
Notably absent from the game was sophomore right end Kirk DeCremer, who is unlikely to play for the rest of the season due to a back injury, Bielema said, though no final decision has been made.
""He's a tremendous young man that has done a lot of good things here, so that's a tough one for us,"" Bielema said. ""It's something that's difficult to swallow because you see someone that wants it so bad.""
The Badgers held possession of the football for nearly 36 minutes - over 10 minutes more than the Zips.
The UW offense dominated the first quarter with two touchdowns and controlled the ball for 11:33 minutes. They began with a series of runs on the opening drive until junior tight end Garrett Graham snagged a 20-yard pass from Everidge while in between two Akron defenders. Two plays later, Graham caught a three-yard toss to put up the first six points of the game.
""It felt good to score right away,"" Everidge said. ""I was dropping back, thinking, 'Don't yack the thing, don't overthrow it,' but it was a great catch by Garrett.""
The UW defense then shut out Akron and the offense responded with another touchdown after Hill used a stiff arm to break away from an Akron linebacker for a 46-yard gain. Hill finished the drive with a two-yard dash into the end zone, and racked up 108 rushing yards in the first quarter.
Freshman placekicker Philip Welch made a 32-yard field goal early into the second quarter to make the game 17-0.
Things fell apart for UW after that, however, when Akron quarterback Chris Jacquemain put together a 72-yard drive that ended in a three-yard touchdown pass.
Then a potential Badger touchdown turned into an Akron possession when Hill fumbled on the goal line and the ball went out of bounds in the end zone. UW moved the ball all the way to the one-yard line again on the next drive, but Akron defensive back Brian Williams intercepted Everidge's pass and ran 63 yards down field, which set up a successful 26-yard field goal for the Zips in the final seconds of the first half.
""That gave us a little wake-up call,"" sophomore strong safety Jay Valai said. ""We got a little relaxed in the second quarter and that hurt us a little bit. But in the second half, we really picked it up.""
Wisconsin responded to the second quarter frustration with an unyielding running game and two touchdowns by tailbacks Hill and Brown in the third quarter to put UW up 31-10.
""It felt good moving the ball down the field,"" Hill said. ""I love hearing my number called.""
Hill and Brown rested during the fourth quarter, allowing Clay, a freshman, to continue the Badgers' dominance on the ground. Clay ran it in for a touchdown early on in the fourth quarter to make the score 38-10.
The final score of the game came during the last minute of play when Jacquemain got one more passing touchdown for Akron. Jacquemain threw for a game total of 227 yards while the Zips earned 70 total rushing yards.
The Badgers set out to run the football and ease Evridge into his role as starting quarterback.
""In this game, kind of our motto was - I heard [offensive coordinator] Paul Chryst say it over and over - 'the better we run the football the more we'll be able to throw,'"" Bielema said.
