11th-ranked Badgers host Herd in Madison
The nation's second longest home winning streak is on the line in Madison this weekend, as the 11th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers host the Marshall Thundering Herd at Camp Randall Stadium.
The Badgers kicked off their 2008 campaign on a winning note, as they downed Akron, 38-17, last weekend. With the victory, Wisconsin stretched its home winning streak to 15 games, which is the second longest active streak in the nation (Oklahoma has won 18 straight). The Badgers have also won 31 of their last 33 home games against non-conference foes, dating back to 1995, and that is certainly bad news for Marshall.
Speaking of the Herd, it also got its season underway with a victory, as it captured a 35-10 win over Football Championship Subdivision member Illinois State. It was a good start for Marshall, which returns 15 starters from a year ago and is in search for its first winning campaign since 2003.
The Herd and Badgers, who are 5-0 all-time against current Conference USA members, are meeting for the first-ever time on the gridiron this weekend.
Marshall did most of its damage on the ground in its opener, rushing for 229 of its 390 total yards in the win over Illinois State. Darius Marshall led the charge with 115 yards and a score on 20 carries, marking the first 100- yard rushing performance of his career.
Quarterback Mark Cann, making his first career start, threw for 161 yards and two scores in the win. He completed just 11-of-22 pass attempts though and was intercepted once, displaying a redshirt freshman's inexperience. His main target was Darius Passmore, who logged four catches for 111 yards and two scores. It was the third 100-yard receiving game of his career, with a majority of those yards being gained on an 88-yard scoring strike late in the second quarter. Tight end Cody Slate though, made just two catches before leaving with an injury early in the third quarter. Slate, who led Marshall with 66 catches a year ago, did not return to the game, but could play this weekend.
The Herd were also effective on defense last weekend, as they limited Illinois State to just 327 total yards. The defense was stout against the run, yielding just 98 yards, but proved to be a bit vulnerable against the pass, allowing 229 yards. The unit also spent 39 minutes of the game on the field and that is simply too much, especially against a FCS program.
C.J. Spillman, who is coming off a 131-tackle campaign, paced Marshall with 13 stops, while Albert McClellan notched both of the team's sacks. It was a great start for McClellan, who was voted the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, but missed all of last season with a knee injury. Now fully healthy, McClellan appears to have regained his form from his 11-sack sophomore campaign in 2006.
The Badgers simply rolled over Akron this past weekend, racking up a whopping 404 rushing yards behind a 6.3 ypc average. It was Wisconsin's first 400-yard rushing game since 2002. P.J. Hill led the way with 210 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, as his size and quickness proved to be too much to handle for Akron. It was the second career 200-yard game for Hill, who is easily on pace to crack the 1,000-yard plateau for the third straight season. Zach Brown added 87 yards and a score on 15 carries, while John Clay posted 71 yards and a touchdown on 12 totes. Head coach Bret Bielema plans on using all three backs consistently this season, even though Hill is clearly the go-to- guy.
"P.J. is our guy, but the one thing we've got is the ability to kind of change gears a little bit. Zach (Brown) is a different runner. You saw him in there a lot on third-downs, obviously there are certain plays that he is good at. Then John clay comes in and he is really good at the inside zones."
With the ground attack dominating, quarterback Allan Evridge wasn't really needed and he threw for just 75 yards with a touchdown and interception on 7- of-10 pass attempts. The fifth-year senior, who started six games for Kansas State in 2005, did a good job managing the team, but he will need to make more plays against tougher competition.
"The part that we knew Allan was going to be able to do was being able to manage the game," said coach Bielema. "He put on a lot of calls at the line of scrimmage which are good, and he was positive off of that."
Defensively, Wisconsin did a respectable job against Akron, which managed only 297 yards of total offense. The Badgers clamped down against the run, surrendering just 70 yards, but were beaten through the air for 227 yards. The unit forced only one turnover and recorded just two sacks, so creating big plays is something this defense will look to improve upon this weekend. Jaevery McFadden, making his first career start as a Badger, led the way with 11 stops, while Levy Deandre had six tackles and one TFL.
