Facing their toughest opponent yet this season, the Wisconsin football team suffered various critical breakdowns in all facets of their game but made the big plays when they mattered, including a Jay Valai blocked extra point in the fourth quarter to preserve the lead. And that, against a high powered but discipline lacking Arizona State team, was just enough to pull out the 20-19 victory and improve to 3-0.
""We knew coming into today it was going to be a very difficult challenge, but what I love today is [we played] a four quarter game,"" head coach Bret Bielema said.
Down 10-6 with just over five minutes to go first half following a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by ASU junior Omar Bolden and a Sun Devil field goal, the Wisconsin defense faced a second and ten at ASU's own 25-yard line. With the momentum favoring the Sun Devils, junior defensive lineman Louis Nzegwu broke through to drop ASU junior quarterback Steven Threet for a six yard loss.
Wisconsin then proceeded to put together a 79-yard drive, lasting just over three and a half minutes which featured big pass plays from senior quarterback Scott Tolzien to multiple targets.
Following an ASU pass interference call with 15 seconds left to play in the first half that gave the Badgers a first down at the 14-yard-line, Tolzien hurled the ball into the near corner of the end zone to Lance Kendricks who made a spectacular catch for the go-ahead score.
On the ensuing kickoff, however, Welch failed to execute a squib kick in order to prevent the possibility of a Sun Devil return. ASU took full advantage of the lofted kick and freshman Kyle Middlebrooks ran the ball all the way down the field before a hustling Shelton Johnson finally took him down at the one yard line as time expired.
""I've kinda harped on these kids about every play matters since last January, and there's no better example of that today than Shelton Johnson,"" Bielema said.
The second half featured a much more poised Badger team on both sides of the ball. Junior running back John Clay padded the Wisconsin lead with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter as he ran the ball 19 yards into the endzone for the score.
With Wisconsin clinging to a 20-13 advantage, the Sun devils took possession with 7:43 left in the game and once again found the offensive energy the team had in the first half. Pounding the ball on the ground, ASU scored a touchdown with just over four minutes to play, to pull within one.
The Badgers were not about to settle for a tie game, however, as senior Jay Valai slipped a defender to block the extra point attempt. Bielema has continually tried to emphasize to his players the importance of every single play.
""Now we see exactly what he's talking about,"" Valai said. ""I'm a senior and I've seen [junior defensive lineman] J.J. [Watt] make [that play] a couple of times, and I'm thinking, OK, what would J.J. Watt do?""
From there, the Badgers handed the ball to John Clay who ate up the final 3:30 of the game as Wisconsin took a sloppy, yet hard-fought victory over Arizona State. Clay finished the night with 123 yards, his ninth straigh 100 yard rushing performance.
On an injury note, sophomore linebacker Chris Borland, who suffered a shoulder injury in the first quarter, will require further medical examination in order to evaluate the exact seriousness of the issue. However, while addressing the media following Saturday's game, Bielema did mention that the team is aware of Borland's year of redshirt eligibility if the injury does result in long-term problems.
