Badgers and Hogs: Beyond the BCS

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, December 29, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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This could have been, should have been a BCS game.

But Arkansas and Wisconsin wound up being shoved aside by other teams in their conferences, and so the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl in Orlando is mostly for pride, despite the fact that the sixth-ranked Badgers finished with the best record -- 11-1 -- in their history.

What makes it interesting is that both teams are coming in with something to prove. Arkansas, which lost to LSU and Florida (in the SEC title game), wants to prove it can win a big game. Wisconsin, which has been disparaged for its easy non-conference schedule, wants to prove it belongs on the national stage.

Then, there's the question of speed. The Badgers' top running back, P.J. Hill, is more of a pounder than a slasher, and wideouts Paul Hubbard and Luke Swan will never be mistaken for Terrell Owens. Indeed, tight end Travis Beckham is QB John Stocco's go-to guy, all of which raises questions about Stocco's ability to attack Arkansas' man-to-man pass coverage.

On the other side of the ball, however, the Badgers think they have the quickness to deal even with the Razorbacks' greyhound backfield of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

"They myth is that the Big Ten is so slow," said Badger DB Joe Stellmacher, "but we can play fast, too."

Arkansas ranked 105th nationally in passing, and Razorback coach Houston Nutt's game plan for his quarterbacks doesn't sound terribly encouraging.

"We're going to play Casey (Dick) for the first two series," Nutt said, "then bring in Mitch (freshman Mitch Mustain) for the third, and go from there."

Arkansas wide receiver Marcus Monk is a genuine threat with 49 catches, 949 yards and 11 touchdowns, but the No. 2 receiver, Damian Williams, caught only 19 passes. And Williams has already announced that he's going to transfer for lack of touches -- again, hardly an endorsement of his Hog batterymates.

So the key, for the Wisconsin defense, will probably be linebackers Jonathan Castillas, DeAndre Levy and Mark Zalewski. They'll be the ones most burdened by the complexities of Arkansas' "Wildcat" offense - a direct snap to McFadden that Badgers defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz compares to the single wing -- and the ones who must tackle effectively in space once McFadden and Jones get past the line of scrimmage.

"Every guy has to do his own job," said Wisconsin defensive line coach Randall McCray, "because if you don't, (McFadden) can make you look real bad, real fast."

After saying all the obligatory things about team play, McFadden (1,993 all-purpose yards in 2006, 1,558 yards rushing) did concede that the Capital One Bowl would be the kickoff to his 2007 Heisman campaign.

"If I rush for 150 yards and score three touchdowns," he said, "they'll say I'm the frontrunner. If I go out and have a flop game, rush for 25 yards, they'll say, 'Why was he there?' (at the 2006 Heisman presentation ceremony, where the sophomore finished a surprising second)."

By far the best scenario for Wisconsin is an early lead, the bigger the better. The Razorbacks have demonstrated (most notably in the fourth quarter of the LSU loss, when Dick was 0-4 passing on their final drive) that they don't have the passing game to propel them down the field late. Similarly, Stocco's smarts and accurate short passing game and the freshman Hill's ability to run inside make the Wisconsin offense perfect for eating clock, but a bad risk coming from behind.

Another matchup to savor will be Joe Thomas, Wisconsin's consensus All-America left tackle, against Arkansas DEs Jamaal Anderson and Antwain Robinson (18 sacks, 29 tackles for loss combined).
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