STATE COLLEGE, Penn.—As the Badgers and Nittany Lions approach kickoff, here are four things to keep an eye on as both teams close out the regular season.
Although the confidence level of the Wisconsin defense is sky high after containing Ohio State’s Braxton Miller and its spread attack for most of last weekend’s loss, it is prepared for a different type of challenge at Penn State.
Having seemingly righted the ship after their blowout loss last week against Florida, Wisconsin once again struggled to contain the attack of a ranked opponent, losing 84-74 to No. 14 Creighton in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational.
The Wisconsin men’s hockey team has hired former Badger Matt Walsh as an interim assistant coach to replace Bill Butters after his departure from the team earlier this month.
The rich got richer on national signing day as the Wisconsin women's hockey team signed five new skaters to national letters of intent. The class is comprised of Melissa Channell (Oakville, Ontario), Sydney McKibbon (Oakville, Ontario), Sarah Nurse (Hamilton, Ontario), Annie Pankowski (Laguna Hills, Calif.), and Jenny Ryan (Victor, N.Y.) If there is a common ground among the newest Badgers slated to join the team for the 2013-2014 season, it is their international experience. "The thing I like about this class is that they have all had the chance to wear their country's jersey, whether that's part of the U-18 or U-22 programs," head coach Mark Johnson said. "They've been part of that process and they're all very competitive players. They have goals in mind and hopefully we'll be able to help them attain some of those goals." Here is a quick overview of the five signees: Melissa Channell: Channell is a 5-4 defenseman currently playing with the Burlington Barracudas Junior in the Provincial Women's Hockey League. She was invited to the Team Canada U22 camp this past summer with Badgers, Saige Pacholok and Katarina Zgraja. She was also part of the Canadian U-18 team in the 2011 Canada-USA series. Channell also helped the Ontario Red team to a Canadian National Championship title in 2011. Her intended major is psychology and her father, Craig, is a scout for the Minnesota Wild. Sydney McKibbon: McKibbon is currently the captain of the Stoney Creek Junior Sabres in the Provincial Women's Hockey League. Through 12 games with Stoney Creek she leads her team in points with eight goals and three assists. Last season, McKibbon also led her team with 41 points off of 12 goals and 29 assists and was also named to the 2012 PWHL All-Star Team. She spent time with Team Canada at the IIHF High Performance Women's Hockey Camp in Slovakia in July 2011. Playing in the Canadian National Championships, McKibbon won a bronze medal with Team Ontario Red in 2012 and skated with Team Ontario Blue in 2011. Her intended major is business. Sarah Nurse: Through 121 games this season with the Stoney Creek Junior Sabres, she is second on the team in points with four goals and six assists. Last year, she was also second on the team in points (37), first in goals (21) and third in assists (16). At the Canadian National Championships, Nurse won gold in 2011 and bronze in 2012 with Team Ontario Red. Her intended major is undecided. Annie Pankowski: Through 30 games this season with the North American Hockey Academy, Pankowski leads her team with 65 points (30G, 34A). Last season, she averaged almost a goal per game, scoring 66 goals and tallying 20 assists in 70 games, and helped lead her team to a Junior Women's Hockey League championship. NAHA also won a JWHL championship her sophomore year, as she logged 50 goals and 44 assists in 86 games. She was a member U.S. U-18 squad that took silver at the 2012 IIHF World Championships, and also skated with the U-18 team in both the 2011 and 2010 Canada-USA series. Her intended major is undecided. Jenny Ryan: In 26 games so far this season with the North American Hockey Academy, Ryan has totaled four goals and 16 assists from the blue line. Last season, she registered 11 goals and 18 assists en route to a league championship. Ryan was recently selected for the U.S. Women's U-18 Team that will participate in the 2013 IIHF World Championships. She also skated with the U-18 team this past summer in the 2012 Canada-USA series. She has also participated at the U.S. National Festival in 2012, 2010 and 2009. Her intended major is kinesiology. UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
The Big Ten Conference announced the addition of the University of Maryland as its 13th member Monday, marking the second league expansion in the last 29 months.
Football
The number of University of Wisconsin-Madison students ejected at the final home game of the 2012 Badger football season decreased compared to the last game in Camp Randall stadium, with ejections due to seating issues in the student section below the season home game average.
Looking to rebound from a poor effort at Florida, No. 20/22 Wisconsin (2-1) responded Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center with a 73-40 victory over Cornell (1-3) in the first of two regional round games in the Las Vegas Invitational.
Facing adversity that was at times overwhelming, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (1-3-2 WCHA, 1-5-2 overall) managed to force a tie Friday night, and battled to a tough loss Saturday against No. 3 Minnesota (4-2-2, 7-2-2) in Minneapolis.
When then-No. 1 ranked Alabama lost to Johnny Football and Texas A&M two weeks ago, I could not have been more excited for the BCS National Championship game.
When Montee Ball left his feet at the two-yard line, it looked as though he might come down in the end zone and on top of the NCAA record book.
For the second consecutive game at Camp Randall, the Wisconsin Badgers (4-3 Big Ten, 7-4 overall) lost a game in overtime that marred a strong defensive performance and additionally spoiled senior running back Montee Ball’s tying of the FBS touchdown record. After a five-yard touchdown pass to redshirt junior tight end Jacob Pedersen with just eight seconds in regulation remaining that tied everything up at 14, Camp Randall was roaring and it appeared undefeated Ohio State (7-0, 11-0) would let its 14-point first half lead go to waste. But Buckeyes’ sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller and junior running back Carlos Hyde only needed two rushes each in their first overtime possession to go up a touchdown and put all the pressure right back into the hands of the Badgers. After a six-yard rush by Ball, an incomplete pass from redshirt senior quarterback Curt Phillips to redshirt freshman fullback Derek Watt and a two-yard loss from Ball on third down, the Badgers were faced with a fourth-and-six from the Buckeyes’ 21. Phillips tried hitting Pedersen over the middle on a curl route that the pair had connected with on numerous occasions earlier in the game but was broken up by junior defensive back Christian Bryant, giving Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema his first loss on Senior Day as Badgers head coach. “[Bryant] made a great break on the ball,” Pedersen said. “[But] honestly, I have to give Curt a better look. I have to come down on my stem more. “It’s’ a little bit on me, but give credit to [Bryant]. He obviously prepared well. He knew what was coming and made a great break on the ball.” The heartbreaking loss has been nothing new for the Badgers this season, as their four losses have come by an average of 4.0 points. “It hurts to do everything you can in your power but still fall short,” Ball said. “It happened twice to us back here at home. It’s just not a good feeling.” Despite holding Ohio State to just 236 yards on offense and extending its streak of holding an opponent to under 300 yards on offense to six games, the Badgers still think they could have done a little more. “Like I said, there were definitely some plays that we left on the field that we should have made,” Phillips said. “And overtime was one of them on the fourth down.” The other came just under three minutes left in regulation, when Ball rushed the ball to the Ohio State two-yard line while still down 14-7 and his touchdown record right in front of both him and the student section. On fourth-and-one from the two, Ball tried jumping over the pile despite the “we run the ball into the endzone” mantra that Bielema preaches, but fumbled after taking a hit from Buckeyes sophomore linebacker Ryan Shazier. “We talk about running the ball into the endzone and I just had this flash in my mind when we were lining up to run that play. I’m like ‘don’t jump, don’t jump,’ because I knew he was doing anything he could to get in the end zone. I can’t discredit him for the effort.” “I just felt like I had to do something in that situation,” Ball said. “One thing I should have done is just dove.” The fumble gave Ohio State the ball at the Wisconsin six-yard line, but after forcing a three-and-out, the Badgers received the ball at Ohio State’s 41 after just a 34-yard punt. Pedersen caught the touchdown nine plays later. The Buckeyes got on the board first towards the end of the first quarter after junior defensive back Corey Brown returned a punt for a touchdown from 68 yards out. Hyde then ran one in from 15 yards about five minutes later in the beginning of the second quarter to go up 14-0. Then it was all Badgers defense, even with redshirt junior Chris Borland being held out. The Badgers held Miller to just 48 yards on the ground and 10-of-18 passing for 97 yards. The Badgers also nearly cut Ohio State’s average of 445.3 total yards per game in half, as a strong defensive front helped the team stymie Miller and only give up a total of 236. “Any time you play somebody with that type of skill set, that type of speed, quickness, [Miller] is going to get some yards,” redshirt junior safety Dezmen Southward said. “And he got some yards, but he worked for every yard he got.” Ball finished with 191 yards on 39 carries (4.9 average) and Phillips ended up 14-of-25 with 154 yards and one touchdown. Ball ran in the record-tying score from seven yards out. Pedersen finished with six catches for 66 yards and Hyde finished with 87 yards on 15 carries with two scores. Although Senior Day and Ball’s inability to break the record at home magnified the heartbreaker, the team is very much aware that essentially nothing is changed despite not being able to win the Leaders Division. “We still have the opportunity to reach all the goals that we wanted to as far as going to Indy and making it back to the Rose Bowl,” Phillips said. “So we just have to kind of rally the troops and make sure we take care of that.”
Traveling east for the first time this season, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team (4-2-2 WCHA, 8-4-2 overall) split their weekend road series with the Ohio State Buckeyes (8-4-0, 10-4-0). With the win, the Badgers moved up to take sole position of third place in the WCHA standings.
The rivalry between the Wisconsin and Minnesota men’s hockey teams goes back decades—far beyond any current player or coaches’ time with their team. The two squads have faced off 262 times in their history, and they will begin writing the next chapter this weekend when the Badgers (1-2-1 WCHA, 1-4-1 overall) head to Minneapolis to take on the No. 3 ranked Golden Gophers (3-2-1, 6-2-1).
Fresh off its 74-56 defeat to No. 10 Florida in Gainesville, Fla., No. 22 Wisconsin (1-1 overall) will look to bounce back when it hosts Cornell (1-1) Sunday at the Kohl Center.
After having the week off due to the Four Nations Cup in Finland, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team (3-3-2 WCHA, 7-3-2 overall) returns to the ice this weekend and will be put to the test in a tough road environment, as they travel to Columbus to take on WHCA foe No. 8/9 Ohio State (7-3-0, 9-3-0).
Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema looks to remain undefeated in Senior Day games as the Badger head coach while senior running back Montee Ball is looking to move into first place on the all-time touchdowns list Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0 Big Ten, 10-0 overall).
Three of the marquee games from college basketball’s opening weekend were scheduled outdoors on aircraft carriers. These games are scheduled right around Veterans Day and fittingly aim to honor the United States’ Armed Forces.
The Wisconsin football team (4-2 Big Ten, 7-3 overall) has proved more than ever this season that it lives and dies by one simple fact: if the team can’t establish a run game, ugly results ensue.
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