First and Ten
September 14, 2006 | Football
The Wisconsin football team plays host to San Diego State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in its second consecutive home game at Camp Randall Stadium. Here are the 10 most interesting game notes for the matchup against the Aztecs. To read the full game notes packet, click on "Weekly Release" found under the links column on the right-hand side of the page.
1: Tight end Andy Crooks caught the first touchdown pass of his career vs. Western Illinois. His 34-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter was actually his second touchdown as a Badger. As a linebacker, he returned an interception 11 yards for a TD against Georgia in the 2005 Outback Bowl.
2: Taylor Mehlhaff connected on both of his field goal attempts vs. Western Illinois, including a career-high tying 46-yarder. Mehlhaff is now 11-of-12 on field goal attempts inside of 40 yards and 16-of-19 inside 50 yards.
3: UW head coach Bret Bielema will be squaring off against a former colleague for the second consecutive week. Bielema and San Diego State head coach Chuck Long (both in their first seasons as head coaches) were on the same coaching staff at Iowa from 1995-99.
4: Wisconsin, which has ranked 19th or higher in national attendance average in each of the past 13 seasons, has drawn a crowd of at least 70,000 fans to 82 consecutive home games. Among those 82 games, 72 have been sellouts, including the last 19 in a row. The Badgers averaged a school-record 82,551 fans during their six-game home slate in 2005.
5: Wisconsin has had a 1,000-yard rusher in 11 of the past 13 seasons, including a Big Ten-record 10 straight years from 1993-2002. The streak was broken in 2003 and 2004 when injuries hampered starting tailback Anthony Davis. RB Brian Calhoun got the Badgers back on track last season with a 1,636-yard effort.
6: Wisconsin's defense recorded three interceptions last week vs. Western Illinois. Senior linebacker Mark Zalewski notched the first INT of his career while defensive backs Allen Langford and Joe Stellmacher both recorded the third picks of their career. UW leads the Big Ten in both pass defense (124.0 yards per game) and pass defense efficiency (78.4).
7: Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema will attempt to become just the second UW head coach to win his first three games since Jack Ryan did so in 1923. Dave McClain won his first four games in 1978.
8: UW has won its last 12 games in the month of September and is 19-1 over the past five years in games played before Oct. 1.
9: Wisconsin carries a 17-4 record in its last 21 games at Camp Randall Stadium into Saturday's game. That includes a 12-1 mark over the past three seasons.
10: Redshirt freshman running back P.J. Hill has gained at least 100 yards in each of his first two games, the first freshman at UW to do so since Anthony Davis in 2001. Hill ranks third in the Big Ten in rushing, averaging 115.5 yards per game. Against Western Illinois, Hill became the first freshman to run for three touchdowns since Davis scored three times against Minnesota on Nov. 24, 2001.
