First ' Goal: Dec. 14
December 14, 2009 | Football
Dec. 14, 2009
MADISON, Wis. --
The 411
Wisconsin will face Miami (9-3 overall, 5-3 ACC Coastal Division) in the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 29 at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CST. ESPN will televise the game live.
The team is off today but will resume practice Tuesday afternoon.
Konz out, Oglesby returns to practice
Wisconsin center Peter Konz, who missed UW's regular-season finale because of a medical condition involving his lung, is not expected to play in the Champs Sports Bowl, writes Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He is going to meet next week (with a doctor)," UW coach Bret Bielema said Saturday after UW's first bowl practice. "Right now...I doubt he is going to play in the bowl game. The main thing is we caught what was going on."
The UW football team’s offensive line shuffle continues. The Badgers returned to practice Saturday and welcomed back sophomore right tackle Josh Oglesby sooner than expected following arthroscopic surgery to both knees, writes Tom Mulhern of Madison.com.
Reestablishing the brand
One of the much-discussed goals of the Wisconsin football team this season is to re-establish Wisconsin football. In so many ways, the Badgers have done that, according to Tom Mulhern of Madison.com.
Big Ten looking to expand
James E. Delany, commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, plans to identify and aggressively recruit a 12th school for the league. Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez revealed that to the UW Athletic Board on Friday, writes Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Tom Mulhern of Madison.com has another take on possible expansion plans, as well as other notes from the UW Athletic Board meeting.
And the winners are…
The UW football team held its inaugural Football Awards Show on Friday night at the Kohl Center. Several awards were handed out, with senior tight end Garrett Graham and senior defensive end O’Brien Schofield sharing Team MVP honors. Read about all the winners.
Head coach Bret Bielema's approach to team awards was influenced greatly by his own experiences as a player, and later an assistant coach, at Iowa. Sitting in the audience, thinking about becoming a head coach some day, Bielema decided, the shorter the better, writes Tom Mulhern of Madison.com.
Practice Schedule
Within his notes column, Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that UW's practice schedule will be identical to the one the Badgers used in each of their two bye weeks. The Badgers are set to practice Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday before getting several days off. UW routed Purdue, 37-0, after its first bye and crushed Hawaii, 51-10, after the second bye.
Badgers in the Pros
• The loss of tight end Owen Daniels has turned into a worst-case scenario for the Houston Texans, writes Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle.
• Rey Maualuga was the hard-hitting middle linebacker Lions fans coveted heading into the draft back in April, but Detroit passed on the USC thumper twice -- with the 20th and 33rd overall picks -- and instead drafted an outside linebacker from Wisconsin, DeAndre Levy, in the third round. Last week, they both were on the field at Paul Brown Stadium, and the Lions' staff came away even more convinced they made the right call, writes John Niyo of The Detroit News.
Tweet of the Day
UW_DL_99 The Awards Show was definitely a step up from the banquet of years past... Once again, thank you seniors for everything! Posted Dec. 11 at 10:20 p.m.
Follow us at Twitter.com/BadgerFootball and Coach Bielema at Twitter.com/BretBielema.
What you won’t find on Facebook
Curt Phillips’ favorite family meal is his mom’s barbeque chicken and corn bread
Note of the Day
Wisconsin leads the Big Ten and ranks 21st in the country in scoring offense, averaging 32.8 points per game. That would be the third-best scoring average in school history, behind only 2005 (34.3 ppg.) and 1999 (34.1 ppg.).
In addition to scoring offense, the Badgers also lead the Big Ten in total offense, averaging 415.8 yards per game. That figure would be the fourth-best in school history and the best since averaging 417.2 yards per game in 1999.
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