Badgers Fall to Illini 37-20
November 09, 2002 | Football
Badger true freshman Dwayne Smith racked up 122 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns to help UW keep pace into the third quarter, but Wisconsin could not hold off Big Ten opponent Illinois Saturday in a 37-20 loss at Camp Randall.
The Illini opened up scoring three minutes into the game on a 46-yard field goal by John Gockman to take the 3-0 lead. Wisconsin's Mike Allen would tie the game at 3-3 at 5:13 in the first quarter on his own 20-yard field goal, but Illinois regained its lead two minutes later after Greg Lewis caught a 36-yard pass from quarterback Jon Beutjer for the touchdown. Peter Christofilakos' extra-point kick was good for the 10-3 Illinois advantage to end the first quarter.
Beutjer and Lewis teamed up again on a seven-yard touchdown pass to start the second quarter, before the UW rally began on Illinois' next drive down the field. Wisconsin's Jim Leonhard spurred the Badgers into action after forcing a fumble on a Beutjer pass to Walter Young.
UW's Alex Lewis recovered the ball and returned it 52 yards down field to the Illinois six-yard line. It would take the Badgers just one play to score their first touchdown, Smith's first scoring run, to climb back to a 17-10 game.
One of five UW takeaways in the game, Leonhard picked off a Beutjer pass on the ensuing Illinois possession to bring the ball back to Wisconsin and set up a field goal on the next drive. On a 44-yard attempt at 7:31, Allen put the ball between the uprights to bring the Badgers within four of the Illini at 17-13, but Beutjer capped his team's last scoring drive in the half with a touchdown pass to Young at 00:28 for a 24-13 Illinois lead.
Wisconsin's defense marched back into the game in the third quarter and Leonhard pulled down his second interception of the day picking up 55-yards on the return to the Illinois 10-yard line. Smith and Sorgi inched up to the Illini endzone on three plays before Smith scored his second touchdown at 9:26.
Down by just four points at 24-20, the Badgers seemed ready for the lead-change, but Illinois' offense knocked down a field goal to end the third quarter at 27-20. Illinois wrapped the game with 10 unanswered points in the fourth to ensure the Big Ten victory.
In total, Wisconsin quarterback Jim Sorgi completed 13 of 23 passes for 162 yards while Brandon Williams led UW's receiving ranks with seven catches for 83 yards in the game. Smith's 122 yards rushing and two touchdowns Saturday marks his second 100-yard game of the season and a career high of both total yards rushing and the first multiple-TD game of his young career.
With his two interceptions Saturday, Leonhard now leads the Big Ten with eight picks this season and moved up to second place on the UW single-season interceptions list behind Neovia Greyer (nine in 1970).
For Illinois, Beutjer completed 22 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns. Teammate Antoineo Harris rushed for 158 yards to earn his 1,000-yard season and Young caught nine receptions for 114 yards and one touchdown.
Up next for the Badgers, Wisconsin travels to Michigan Saturday, Nov. 16 for the last road game of the regular season. Kickoff is at 11:05 a.m.
Post-game Quotes
Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez
Nov. 9, 2002
Wisconsin vs. Illinois
On the game: 'Well, we did not play good in any phase. We could not get anything going offensively. We could not throw and catch consistently. We had one drive where we ran the ball well, but other than that we were not consistent running the ball. Defensively, this was the first team that ran the ball consistently on us. They were able to consistently get good gains. The one bright spot, our defense gave us a chance with turnovers to stay in the game. And in many cases we did not take advantage of them like we could have. But, not a very good performance in any phase. '
On if the team played hard: 'I do not think they quit. I do not think anyone quit. We just did not play well and it just did not feel like it was a clean game.'
On Illinois' big pass plays and if there was a breakdown in the Wisconsin pass defense: 'There one guy that caught the ball way above everyone's head'he put himself in good position. They have a lot of tall receivers. But I have to give him credit. He did a good job with leverage when the quarterback threw the ball. I did not see any break-downs. I did not see anyone running free.'
On the questionable Illinois touchdown: 'I understand that the replay showed that he was way out. I was a long way away so I did not see, but I felt and the kids felt that he was way out of bounds.'
On if Wisconsin needs to take more advantage of the turnovers: 'Absolutely.'
Post-Game Quotes
Illinois head coach Ron Turner
Nov. 9, 2002
Wisconsin vs. Illinois
On the offense: I really have a lot of confidence in our offense, but we thought this was going to be a struggle. Wisconsin's got a great defense, they put nine guys up against the line of scrimmage against the run and they 've got a very, very good defense. They have a good scheme, well coached and most importantly, outstanding players. We came in to the game saying that this was going to be a struggle and we're going to have to battle for every one we get.
On the interceptions: He plays with a lot of confidence, a lot of the guys do. Walter fumbled the ball and I know that he felt real bad about that. He could have gotten in a slump a little bit. Antonio fumbled the ball in the third quarter; he could have done the same thing. These guys didn't, they just kept battling, kept fighting, kept competing and really came in here with the attitude that we have to find a way to win this game. To turn the ball over five times and still be able to win by 17 points, that's a tribute to these guys. No matter what happened, they didn't quit.
On the defense: They did good job against a very good offensive team. They have a big, experience offensive line and good running backs. I thought they did a good job.
Is this a better offense' We had a couple games that we've gone for over 600 yards. I think that we've done some good things all year. We've been explosive; we've done some good things all year. We weren't as consistent as we would like and we still have a lot of work to do. If we turn the ball over five times, we're not going to beat many people. It carries a lot the things that we did; the fight, the determination. The way we did some things, run the ball home, but we've got a lot of work to do.
On the field goal unit: They did a great job. Peter and John have been doing a great job for tow years for us. Peter is so steady and so consistent with short field goals. And john has been great.
Post-Game Quotes
Wisconsin Players
Nov. 9, 2002
Wisconsin vs. Illinois
Sophomore Defensive Back Jim Leonhard
'We got the turnovers, but the offense isn't capitalizing on them right now. All we can do is keep getting them.'
'It was really frustrating. Coming into this week with all the adversity, we had things nailed down. We just didn't play very well today. You have to play a lot better than that to win a game.'
On the difference between being 5-0 and the team now: 'I would have to say attitude. The intensity. Everybody has to pick it back up and get back to where we were before.'
Sophomore Defensive Back Scott Starks
On how you guard against tall receivers: 'You have to be aggressive. When the ball goes up, you have to play to the man 's hands. On a couple of plays, we didn't do that.'
On not getting key stops: 'We couldn 't get off the field on third downs. Whether it was run or pass, we couldn 't get off.'
On the mood in the locker room: 'The same mood as after every loss. It's kind of dry, actually. The good thing about it is that we still have two chances to get to a bowl game.'
