First ' Goal: Dec. 16
December 16, 2009 | Football
Dec. 16, 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 practices at 1 p.m. on today before taking Thursday and Friday off.
Borland and Konz named Freshman All-Americans
The Sporting News released its Freshman All-America team on Wednesday. Redshirt freshman Peter Konz was named as one of five offensive linemen on the team, and true freshman Chris Borland was one of three linebackers selected.
The Sporting News also released its All-Big Ten Freshman team with Borland being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He was joined on the team by Konz and fellow freshman linebacker Mike Taylor.
Konz tells his story
University of Wisconsin redshirt freshman center Peter Konz didn't know enough to be afraid. That was probably a good thing, writes Tom Mulhern of Madison.com. Konz developed two small blood clots, one in each lung, probably on the flight to Hawaii. They were discovered the night before the game. "I wasn't scared," Konz said after practice on Tuesday. "Maybe it's the naive 19-year-old, I'm-going-to-live-forever aspect.”
As he sat in his hotel room in Hawaii and the discomfort in his chest worsened, Peter Konz knew something was amiss, Jeff Potrykus writes in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Yet having played football for years, Wisconsin's redshirt freshman center had been conditioned to ignore pain. "I thought: 'I could play with this,' " Konz said after watching practice Tuesday night.
Next men in
During each bowl practice, time is designated to evaluate young reserves, most of whom are redshirting. For [defensive line coach Charlie] Partridge, that means identifying candidates to play tackle in 2010. UW will have to replace two of its top three tackles, seniors Jeff Stehle and Dan Moore, and reserves Jordan Hein and Dan Cascone, writes Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Reflecting on the decade
The 2000 Rose Bowl was a culmination of one of the most-celebrated careers in UW sports history, and what better way to go out than with a win in back-to-back years over “superior” Pac-10 opponents, writes Jonah Braun of the Badger Herald.
The past decade has been one of the most successful eras in Wisconsin football history with [former head coach and current UW Director of Athletics Barry] Alvarez leading the way and [head coach Bret] Bielema taking over as the new face of the program. With a lot of young talent, strong recruiting classes and a maturing coaching staff in place, Badger fans should expect that success to continue into the next decade, according to Max Henson of the Badger Herald.
Vote for Bucky’s Bests of the Decade
The first decade of the 21st century is coming to a close at the end of December. This momentous occasion has given the Wisconsin Athletics Communications staff pause to remember some of Bucky's best performances over the past 10 years.
Here is an opportunity to relive the best moments by Wisconsin since 2000. Fans are encouraged to vote during the month of December on UW's Best Plays, Teams, and Athletes of the Decade.
Enjoy the trip down memory lane as you review the top moments, the best performances, and the tremendous success of Wisconsin's teams and student-athletes. Complete the registration and continue to the voting pages. Vote daily as often as you wish.
Badgers in the Pros
• Amid all the injuries and shuffling along the offensive line, center Casey Rabach has continued to anchor the unit while providing some stability for quarterback Jason Campbell, writes Jason Reid on his Redskins Insider blog.
• Mark Tauscher played his first full game Sunday, and according to coach Mike McCarthy, the Green Bay Packers veteran right tackle might have shown some signs of fatigue with his surgically repaired left knee.
Tweet of the Day
BTNBrentsBlog With bowl season approaching, I consider 5 B10 offensive stars who are poised to have big days. http://tiny.cc/wdZ0L Posted Dec. 15 at 5:19 p.m.
Follow us at Twitter.com/BadgerFootball and Coach Bielema at Twitter.com/BretBielema.
Video of the Day
Check out post-practice interviews with some of UW’s offensive players from Tuesday.
What you won’t find on Facebook
The magazine cover that Bradie Ewing would most like to be on is “Outdoor Life.”
Note of the Day
Wisconsin and Stanford were the only two schools in the country to have multiple players on the Sporting News Freshman All-America team.
Become a Badger Football Insider
Think these links were good? You should see what we have on the Badger Football Insider. Get daily news delivered to your inbox when you sign up and never miss a thing about Coach Bielema’s squad.
If you have any links that you think would be worthy of 1st & Goal, email them to Karl Anderson at kga@athletics.wisc.edu.
