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Badgers Lose to Georgia in OutBack Bowl By Barry The Bear |
IdataSports.com Sports Staff Writer
barrythebear@webtv.net
Posted Sun Jan 2 11:36:26 2005
Unfortunatly for the 2004 edition of the Wisconsin Badgers football team, all that will be remembered is how a team that started out with a 9-0 record, faltered down the stretch and lost their last two regular games along with their Bowl game to finish at 9-3.
Georgia survived a late rally by the Badgers on Saturday to win the 2005 OutBack Bowl 24-21.
The Bulldogs took the opening kick and promptly marched down field for the first score of the day. On the first play of the game, Greene passed to Leonard Pope for a 31 yard gain. A few plays later, Greene kepthe drive alive by hitting Brown for a 12 yard gain on third and 10. The drive eventually stalled and Brian Coutu kicked a 20 yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
The Badger offense picked up an initial first down on their opening drive, but three plays later had to punt. The Badger defense forced a Georgia fumble on the next drive, which Jim Leonard recovered at the 22. However..... the offense stalled and lost yards on the drive. Allen came in and kicked a 46 yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3.
The teams traded field position for the remainder of the opening quarter, with Wisconsin closing out the quarter on a sustained drive. The Georgia defense SACKED Stocco on the final play of the first quarter on third and six.
The second quarter opened with Allen connecting on a 45 yard field goal to give the Badgers a 6-3 lead. Georgia would re-gain the lead later in the second quarter on a 10 play-63 yard drive. Greene kept the drive alive on a huge play. Faced with a third and 21, Greene passed to Reggie Brown for a 25 yard gain down o the 37. Several plays later, Greene connected again on third down, as he passed to Thomas Brown for a gain of five. Eventualy on second and four at the 18, Greene passed to Fred Gibson for the touchdown.Coutu added the p.a.t. for a 10-6 lead.
The teams traded field positions with punts to close out the first half. On the final play of the half, Coutu attempted a 52 yard field goal, but missed it wide right.
The Badger offense failed to move the ball on their initial possession of the third quarter. Following a punt, Georgia took over possession at the 47. Greene delivered a shovel pass to Tom Brown which gained 25 yards. Two plays later, Greene passed to Sean Bailey, but the ball was deflected by safety Robert Brooks, the ball bounced into the arms of Jeremy Thomas, who scrambled into the endzone for a touchdown to extend the Bulldogs lead to 17-6.
The Badgers next series resulted in three plays and a punt, giving Georgia the ball back at the 47. Greene stayed on target and connected again on a third and long. Greene handed off to Ware wh gained 23 yards down to the 19. A penalty backed the Bulldogs to the 29. On second and 20 at the 29,Greene handed off to Thomas Brown who raced untouched to the endzone for the touchdown. Coutu added the p.a.t. and Georgia extended the lead to 24-6. At this point, it appeared the Wisconsin was all but dead and that a blow-out was developing.
The Badgers staged an 8 play-88 yard drive later in the quarter. Stocco and Darren Charles connected on a few big plays, including a 19 yard touchdown pass with 5:40 remaining in the third which narrowed the gap to 24-13.
The Badgers had another sustained drive to close out the quarter, which saw Stocco get SACKED on the final play of the quarter.
Allen attempted a 37 yard field goal to open the fourth, but he missed it wide right.
The teams traded field positions for the next few posessions. Wisconsin looked to be heading in for a touchdown late in the game. On first and goal at the five, Stocco was SACKED and fumbled. Pollack recovered for Georgia. On first down, Greene attempted to pass to Thomas Brown, Andy Crooks INTERCEPTED the pass and ran the short 11 yards for the touchdown. The Badgers went for two on the conversion. Stocco passed to Johnathan Orr for the conversion to make it 24-21 with 4:10 left to play.
Georgia took over and converted on two third down converions, forcing the Badgers to burn out their time-outs. In the end, Greene took a knee two times as time expired and Georgia beat the Badgers by the
FINAL SCORE:
Georgia 24
Wisconsin 21
Wisconsin finishes the season with a 9-3 record.
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