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Badgers Suffer Bitter Loss in Season Finale By Barry The Bear |
IdataSports.com Sports Staff Writer
barrythebear@webtv.net
Posted Mon Nov 24 19:32:57 2003
This was supposed to be a day of celebration. The Badgers had hoped to celebrate a season ending victory over Iowa. And also celebrate Barry Alvarez's 100th victory as coach. They also had hoped that the Seniors would celebrate a happy ending to their careers. Instead, it's Iowa celebrating with a 27-21 victory. The loss drastically effects Wisconsin's post-season Bowl plans. Yes..... the Badgers will still get a Bowl bid, but look for it to be a " minor level" game, unlike the New Year's Day Bowl game in Tampa that Iowa will most likely play in.
Both teams failed to score on their initial possessions of the game. Iowa found the end zone very quickly on their second possession. Fred Russell found an open gap and gained 48 yards down to the 19, before Starks knocked him out of bounds. On the next play, Russell took a hand-off and went to the right, then quickly handed off to Ramon Ochoa who came back to the left side and ran untouched 19 yards for the touch down. Nate Kaeding added the p.a.t. and it was 7-0. Wisconsin came back to tie the game, a few minutes later. After Sorgi and the offense failed to move and were forced to punt, the Badger defense got the ball back. On a third and five, Scott Starks intercepted a pass at the 31 and returned it 26 yards down to the 5. Two plays later, Davis scored the touch down from one yard out. Allen added the p.a.t. to forge the 7-7 tie. Before the quarter ended, Wisconsin would score again, courtesy of some razzle-dazzle trick play. Sorgi threw a pass to the sideline for Evans. Lee caught it and tossed it back to Sorgi for a 19 yard gain down to the 4. On first and goal, Davis ran a sweep to the left, broke a tackle and scored, to give the Badgers a 14-7 lead as the first quarter drew to a close.
Early in the second quarter, the Badger defense came up with another interception which Kyle McCorson returned down to the 37. On the drive, Wisconsin was faced with a fourth and five, Sorgi passed to Davis on a screen and it gained 29 yards. A few plays later, Dwayne Smith scored the touch down and with the p.a.t. from Allen, Wisconsin was looking prime for a blow-out victory as they now led 21-7 with just over ten minutes still remaining in the first half.
BUT...... it was from this point forward, that things went sour for the Badgers. First..... Jim Sorgi was lost for the remainder of the game, as he suffered a minor head injury and the Badgers also lost Davis, who re-sprained his knee which had given him problems most of the season. Matt Schabert came into the game, and on his first series, rushed a pass and it was intercepted by an Iowa defender who returned it 40 yards down to the 25. Iowa scored in just six plays. On a third and goal, Chandler made up for his goofs in the first quarter, by hitting Ochoa for the score to narrow the gap to 21-14.
Wisconsin's offense went into a stalled gear, and was forced to punt on their next few possessions. On one series, after the punt, Byron Brown was penalized 15 yards for interference on the coverage, giving Iowa a first down at the 49. The defense for Wisconsin came up strong and forced Iowa to settle for a 50 yard field goal at the end of the quarter to make it 21-17 at half time.
Things continued to go bad for the Badgers in the third quarter. Schabert threw another poor pass which was picked off by Iowa at the 25 and then returned 24 yards down to the 1. On first and goal, the Hawkeyes scored and with the extra point, took back the lead at 24-21.
Matt Schabert was removed in the fourth after throwing three interceptions and allowing 17 points in his playing time, which meant the game was on the line with red-shirted John Stocco. When Stocco came in, Iowa had increased the lead to 27-21 following a 28 yard field. goal by Keading. Stocco came into the game with just over three minutes remaining. However, he only had 1 time out to use,as Wisconsin burned one very early in the fourth when there was a mix-up among the coaching staff as to the amount of players Wisconsin had on the field. But, Stocco drove the Badgers and actually had them in range to win. Stocco kept the hopes alive on a third and five, as he completed a 25 yard pass to Darren Charles down to the 20 with 2:05 remaining.
Two running plays gained just ten yards, setting up a first and goal at the 10. With 22 seconds remaining, Stocco called the Badgers final time out. He came back out, Two plays..... nothing. On third down, Stocco passed into the middle for a short completion to Smith, as time kept running, the Badgers hurried to the line and scrambled to get the play off, with 1 second left, Stocco got the center snap, he passed to Orr in the end zone, but the pass was knocked away by an Iowa defender.
With the loss Wisconsin ends the regular season with a record of 7-5 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten. For the fourth year, the Badgers do not finish above the .500 mark in the conference.
So..... no trip to TAMPA on JANUARY 1. Instead it appears Wisconsin will play either in Texas for either the Sun or Alamo Bowl...... or maybe in Nashville for the Music City Bowl.
Stay tuned here for complete details as they become known.
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