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               |  RED ALERT! STOCCO STICKS HOGS AS BADGERS WIN 17 -14 IN CAPITAL ONE BOWL By J.D. Gold |
IdataSports.com Sports Staff Writer Did John Stoccos performance surprise any Badger fans New Years Day?What could be the most understated quote of the post Capital One Bowl press conference,"It did me," Razorbacks coach Houston Nutt said when asked if Wisconsin's passing ability had surprised him. "I didn't think they would throw and catch like that against us." Hello? Is there anybody out there? as the old Pink Floyd song goes. Was Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, pardon the pun, nuts? Did someone from the UW athletic dept. send DVDs of the Badgers circa when Mike Samuel was the Bucky QB.Receivers with the likes of Chris Chambers, Lee Evans, Brandon Williams and TE Owen Daniels currently reside in the NFL and do quite nicely thank you. As do Qb's Brooks Bollinger and Jay Sorgi.So how was the Hogs coach so in the dark to Stoccos ability. He had guided the Badgers to 28 wins and passed for over 7000 yds in his career. His numbers at first glance for the game seem OK as he was 14-34 for 206 yds 2tds to go along with two interceptions. But a closer look at the game and numbers show why he was the deserved MVP of the game.Of the badgers 15 first downs in the game only one came from the running game Arkansas played a 5-3 front in the first half and off and on in the second half and helped contain the Badgers' ground game. Tailback PJ Hill rushed 19 times for a season-low 36 yards. His long run was 6 yards.So the game was clearly on the shoulder of John Stocco, Travis Beckum, Paul Hubbard, and Luke Swan and the quartet responded.Stocco's 29-yard completion to Beckum on UW's first offensive play led to a 52-yard field goal by Taylor Mehlhaff.He completed 5 of 7 passes for 88 yards on UW's third series, a nine-play, 91-yard touchdown march. Stocco capped the drive with a beautiful 22-yard touchdown strike to Hubbard who had 4 catches for 73 yds to go along with the td in the right corner of the end zone for a 10-7 lead.In the second quarter, Stocco capped a seven-play, 62-yard touchdown drive with another touch pass. This time, he hit Beckum, who finished with 5 catches for 82 yds and a td, in the left corner of the end zone from 13 yards out.This was all on the heels of the Badgers offensive line not having its best game as it seemed as john Stocco was pounded all day. The Razorbacks had 6 sacks for -48 yds on and drilled Stocco on several other occasions keeping the badger Qb from ever really getting comfortable in the pocket.Stocco his offensive counterparts weren't the only ones who showed up in Orlando, Fla Monday afternoon as the Wisconsin defense "held" the tandem of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones to 232 yds a two scores by Jones. Jake Ikegwuon was outstanding in shutting down the Hogs wide out Marcus Monk and holding him to one catch for 13 yds. Ikegwuon also chased down McFadden on his 45 yd romp at the nine thus resulting in a 30 yd FG miss by Arkansas kicker Jeremy Davis thus resulting in the three point differerence in the game.Zach Hampton had a special day as free safety Roddrick Rodgers went down in the 1st half with a knee injury and all Hampton did was pick off a pass deep in UW's own territory, stick a guy on a double reverse and bat down the ball on the final play to end the game.Overall the Badger defense held the Razorbacks to 19 % on 3rd and 4Th down converstions for the game never really allowing the Hogs to get anything rolling consistently. Maybe there is someone out there that still doesn't know the Wisconsin Badgers are a national power to be reckoned with in the years to come. But Bret Bielema and the Badgers are doing there best to let America know when you've said Wisconsin you've said it all.Copyright © 1994-2007, Interactive Data LLC | |
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