UW Shuts Out SDSU; Improves to 3-0
September 16, 2006 | Football
September 16, 2006
Madison, Wis. -- Wisconsin scored two second-half touchdowns while limiting San Diego State to 115 total yards as the Badgers improved to 3-0 with a 14-0 victory over the Aztecs Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
UW (3-0) allowed 25 yards in the second half and recorded its first shutout since blanking Temple, 65-0, on Sept. 10, 2005. Over its last nine quarters of play, dating back to its season-opening victory over Bowling Green, the Badger defense has not allowed an opponent to reach the end zone.
'"I liked the way they (UW defense) practiced this week,"' said Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema following the game. "'They went out and executed today against an opponent that scored a lot of points in their opening ball game two weeks ago."'
The Aztecs (0-2) had scored 27 or more points in four consecutive games dating back to last season. Featured back Lynell Hamilton, who ranks in the top-10 in career rushing yards at SDSU, had 26 yards on six carries against Wisconsin.
'"I think we knew all along that we could play this way,"' said starting Badger cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu. "'Coach (Bielema) had a lot to do with it. Coach (Bielema) had really been harping on us to play up to our potential and I think we did that today."'
Linebacker Mark Zalewski recorded a team-high eight tackles for Wisconsin and was involved in three of UW's five sacks of Aztec quarterback Darren Mougey. A sophomore in his first career start, Mougey completed 15-of-27 passes for 102 yards.
Offensively, Wisconsin rushed for 287 yards while wearing down the SDSU defense. P.J. Hill recorded his third-consecutive 100-yard game. His final tally of 184 yards was highlighted by a 53-yard gallop down the sidelines that gave UW a 7-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
'"P.J. Hill, again, just a guy that has a lot of resiliency during the course of the game,"' said Bielema. "'But the best news is he''s only a freshman. He''s going to get better every day, not just every week."'
The score proceeded a pair of Badger miscues deep in Aztec territory. Hill was stuffed on a fourth-and-three carry from inside the SDSU 10-yard line midway through the second quarter. UW quarterback John Stocco scrambled, was hit and fumbled on a third-quarter drive that reached the Aztec 13-yard line.
'"We felt good about the call (on fourth down), weren''t able to execute, and that''s one thing that will be a huge point of emphasis because we are going to need that in Big Ten play,"' said Bielema. "'That' 's my mentality, that we need to score a touchdown right there."'
Stocco completed 12-of-23 passes for 85 yards including a six-yard strike to a wide open Paul Hubbard in the back of the end zone on third-and-goal with 7:06 remaining. A 48-yard run by Dywon Rowan helped lead to the score. Rowan netted 79 yards on six carries.
'"Everything was great with what we did offensively but the only bad thing that you look at is we weren''t very good on third downs,"' said Stocco. " 'Obviously that''s a lot of passing situations so I need to be more efficient with that and hit throws that I missed."
A Joe Monty fumble recovery late in the game sealed the win for Wisconsin, its 19th in 20 regular-season games against non-conference opponents. Bielema became the second UW head coach to win the first three games of his career since Jack Ryan did so in 1923.
Wisconsin vs. San Diego State Game Notes
'Wisconsin team captains are QB John Stocco, OL Joe Thomas, LB Mark Zalewswki and DE Joe Monty.
'In conjunction with Wisconsin''s 'Salute to Veteran's' day, the United States Navy conducted a flyover. During the National Anthem two F/A-18 Hornets from the Naval Air Station in Oceana, Virginia flew over the stadium. The aircraft were piloted by two UW grads, Major Smith (class of 95) and Lieutenant Naidyhorski (class of 97).
'San Diego State won the toss and deferred. Wisconsin chose to take the ball to open the game.
'Kickoff was at 2:40 p.m. CST
'Game attendance was announced at 81,090, the 20th straight sellout at Camp Randall Stadium and the 73rd in last 83 home games.
TEAM NOTES
'Wisconsin recorded its first shutout since blanking Temple 65-0 on Sept. 10, 2005. The last time UW recorded shutouts in back-to-back seasons was in 1998 (31-0 over Iowa on Oct. 24, 1998) and 1999 (59-0 over Indiana on Oct. 16, 1999).
'UW''s defense has not allowed a touchdown since Bowling Green' 's Freddie Barnes scored on a 2-yard TD run with 6:58 left in the third quarter of the Badgers'' season-opener.
'Today marked the first time Wisconsin was involved in a scoreless first half since the Badgers and Illinois played to a 0-0 halftime tie on Nov. 25, 1995. That game, which was the last tie in college football, ended in a 3-3 deadlock. Overtime was instituted starting in 1996.
'Wisconsin is 19-1 in its last 20 regular-season non-conference games, including wins against the last 10 non-Big Ten foes.
'UW is 26-2 in its last 28 non-conference home games.
'The Badgers are 13-1 in their last 14 games at Camp Randall Stadium.
'Wisconsin is now 15-0 with Bret Bielema on the coaching staff when giving up fewer than 20 points.
'UW has won its last 13 games in the month of September.
'In the last two games, Wisconsin has held a 19:12 advantage in time of possession.
'The Badgers' 287 yards rushing were their most in a game since gaining 388 rushing yards against Bowling Green on Sept. 3, 2005.
'Wisconsin held San Diego State to 13 net yards rushing, tied for the eighth-lowest total in school history. It was the fewest rushing yards by a UW opponent since Temple rushed for -11 yards on Sept. 10, 2005.
'San Diego State's 115 total yards were tied for the ninth-lowest total for a UW opponent in history.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
'Head coach Bret Bielema became the second UW head coach to win the first three games of his career since Jack Ryan did so in 1923. Dave McClain won the first four games in 1978.
'Freshman running back P.J. Hill ran for 184 yards, his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game. His 32-yard run in the second quarter was the longest play from scrimmage by a Badger this season, which he then surpassed with his 53-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. His touchdown run was the longest by a UW player since running back Anthony Davis registered a 71-yard scoring run against Minnesota on Nov. 23, 2002. The Badgers defeated Minnesota 49-31 in Madison that day.
'Hill and fellow running back Dywon Rowan each recorded career-best rushing yards today. Hill carried the ball 26 times for 184 yards while Rowan had 79 yards on six carries.
'Paul Hubbard's touchdown reception in the fourth quarter was the first touchdown of his career.
'Joe Monty recovered the third fumble of his career in the fourth quarter.
Wisconsin Head Coach Bret Bielema Post-Game Quotes
Opening Comments: 'Basically, the way things unfolded out there today, we started the week last Sunday in particular, really challenging our defense. Two games had gone by where we hadn''t consistently played for four quarters. There were basically three drives in the Western Illinois game that I was concerned with, that I expressed to my coaches as well as the players. I like the way they practiced this week. We have a workman's-type program. They''re going to play how they practice. They practiced extremely well, went out and executed today against an opponent that scored a lot of points in their opening ball game two weeks ago. But I liked the response mechanism in them.
P.J. Hill, again, just a guy that has a lot of resiliency during the course of the game, also just his energy and his excitement. But the best news is he''s only a freshman. He''s going to get better every day, not just every week, he gets better every day. John (Settle) does a great job with him. He needs to continue to make strides.
A big emphasis for me, as a head coach, was the protection of our quarterback. It was emphatic from the week before that he wasn''t going to survive a Big Ten schedule taking that many hits. Everyone was aware of it. We protected him today and I liked the results.
And then, just a couple key guys that jump out to me. Zach Hampton is a guy that just shows me unbelievable determination in the ball game, the way he catches those punts. And then on the defensive side, we talked about up front, we needed to make this a Big Ten-style game and I really liked the way the D-line responded.'
On fourth down calls: 'The first one, we were driving the ball, we had run the ball successfully down the field on third down and I made the decision to go for it. It would have been a chip-shot field goal for Taylor (Mehlhaff) but I wanted to set an attitude with our offense. We felt good about the call, weren''t able to execute, and that''s one thing that will be a huge point of emphasis because we are going to need that in Big Ten play. That''s my mentality, that we need to score a touchdown right there.
The 55-yard field goal was the number that we came up with during pre-game warm-ups that Taylor felt good from the 40 going towards the Field House and from 55 going towards our student section.
Then at the end of the game, when we''re up by two touchdowns, to me that wasn' 't even a decision. It was fourth-and-five, it was too short for a punt, there was 1:30 on the clock and we just wanted to keep it going.'
On the UW offense: 'Two positives were the way we ran the football and the way we protected the quarterback. The negatives were passing production, but those are things that as time goes on, even just in practice, I see things happening with a little more consistency as well as the way they''re catching the football. There were two drops in the first half that I was very adamant about on the sidelines that they needed to be able to make those catches and execute it. I like the fact that Luke Swan on that last drive was able to execute the third-down conversion there. So it's baby steps but we''re making them.'
San Diego State Head Coach Chuck Long Post-Game Quotes
Opening Comments: 'I really liked the fight we had from our football team today. We wanted to come in here and win this football game. That just didn''t happen. I thought we improved in a critical spot for us, our special teams. Michael Hughes came out and punted really well for us today. We had a lot of positives in this game. I thought our defense was magnificent. Our offense, I know we have some work to do there, but we will keep getting better throughout this year. I thought Darren Mougey handled himself really well today in his first start as an Aztec on the road. In this hostile environment here, I thought he was very composed all day. We thought that at any moment we were going to break a play and get that big momentum swing that we needed. That play just never happened. Hats off to Wisconsin. They were very solid defensively throughout the game. They were very consistent, not giving us the opportunity to break that big play. Even though it was a loss, as soon as we get back to San Diego, we have to being focusing and preparing for Utah.'
What kind of adjustments are you going to make after this game' 'I don''t like to really think too hard about that until I get a chance to watch the tape, but one thing for sure is that our running game needs to step up. We really struggled with our run game as well as our third downs. We had the same problem last week, so now we are going to sit down and really try to work out the kinks in the run game so hopefully we can make it a factor for the rest of the season.'
How disappointing was the scoreless result after the fake punt.' 'That was one of those plays where we really thought we would be able to turn it into points, catching them off guard and gaining a little momentum. We gave ourselves the opportunity to convert it into points and it just didn''t happen. It was just one of those days. Considering all the problems we had on third downs, I thought why not, and it worked, but of course we were disappointed not turning it into points.'
Wisconsin Player Post-Game Quotes
Kicker Taylor Mehlhaff
On today''s overall performance: 'I felt like defensively we played really well. I know the defensive players and coaches are real happy. Offensively, we were frustrated about a few things but in the second half we got a little bit better. But for the most part I think we got better today. We need to get some confidence going into Michigan next weekend.'
On starting the Big Ten season: 'Going into the Big Ten is always exciting because now the level of play steps up, especially when we''re going on the road to Michigan. That''s a big game. We just need to go in there, be confident, and bring all offense, defense and special teams because it's going to be a tough game.'
On the non-conference opponents: 'I hope they gave good preparation going into the Big Ten season. I think our offense is slowly gaining more confidence and hopefully we can put some more points on the board. Our defense played really well today so I think they ended this game on a high note so hopefully we can carry that into next weekend. '
Defensive Lineman Jason Chapman
On first Big Ten opponent Michigan''s win over Notre Dame: 'We' 're not concerned about what they did with another opponent. It''s just how are we going to prepare for them and how we're going to approach them as a whole unit.'
On playing on the road against Michigan: 'They call it the Big House, and sure their fans are going to be disruptive to us but we''re used to that. We' 're just going to be ready to play.'
Quarterback John Stocco
On the overall offensive performance: 'Everything was great with what we did offensively but the only bad thing that you look at is we weren''t very good on third downs. Obviously that''s a lot of passing situations so I need to be more efficient with that and hit throws that I missed.'
On his performance: 'I think there''s a few throws that I missed that I normally don''t and that''s something that can''t happen. Every now and then you''re going to miss a throw but it just happened too many times today.'
On adjustments made: 'We just wanted to play physical. I thought in the first half there were sometimes where we were on edges and I thought we did a great job coming out and the second half and just played physical.'
Offensive Lineman Eric Vanden Heuval
On if he is ready to face Michigan''s defensive line: 'I think I feel very prepared. San Diego''s (defensive) ends were very, very good athletes and I feel that is really going to help me for next week against Michigan.'
On Coach Bielema''s decision to run the ball on fourth-and-three: 'That means Coach (Bielema) has confidence in us. He can trust us with that kind of play. That just means that we have to get after it and get those three yards. '
On the offense''s slow start against San Diego State: 'After halftime we just had to step it up. We knew that we were better than what we did in the first half and I think that just shows that we don''t give up.'
Safety Joe Stellmacher
On the defense''s play as a whole: 'The (defensive line) was really getting after them. They were pretty much unblockable I thought the whole game. And like you mentioned before, our linebackers. I mean they were all over the place, flying around. In the third quarter I think we were blitzing him quite a bit, and we were hitting home too. He was scrambling back there pretty much the whole game so that was good. '
On if the defense''s performance against San Diego State will carry over against Michigan: 'I hope it does carry over. I mean shutouts are hard to come by in college football. We put one out there today, so hopefully we can keep this momentum and carry it into Michigan next week.'
On playing against a team that throws more: 'That was a more conventional offense that we went up against today. They threw it a lot more than the other two teams. So it was good to go against that and actually see some deep balls and conventional passing game.'
Cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu
On the defense making a big step this week: 'I think we knew all along that we could play this way. Coach (Bielema) had a lot to do with it. Coach (Bielema) had really been harping on us to play up to our potential and I think we did that today.'
On looking ahead to Michigan: 'As soon as we got in the locker room we were talking about it. We really got a big fish to fry on Saturday and that is the way we are looking at it. We have to come into practice this week with the mindset that what we did this week isn''t really going to get it done next week. We have to click on all cylinders to play against a team like Michigan.'
On having a scoreless game at the half: 'We were excited. Our offense was struggling a little bit and we knew that and we had to pick it up even that much more. It' 's really exciting. A zero-zero ballgame, anything can happen. We were on a thin line, thin ice. We have to keep our game up. Keep our game high. We can''t really let anything go. As long as they have a zero on the board they can''t really win. '
