First ' Goal: Dec. 23
December 23, 2009 | Football
Dec. 23, 2009
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 12:30 this afternoon before departing for Orlando at 2:30.
Programming note
Today will be the final edition of First and Goal for the season. Fear not though as the Countdown to the Champs Sports Bowl Blog will feature links throughout the week.
Bowl Central
Bowl Central is your ultimate home for all things Badgers as Wisconsin prepares to take on Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN. Get official reports from UW Athletic Communications staffers Brian Lucas, Karl Anderson and Brian Mason, who will be embedded with the team as they prepare to depart for Florida, take in the sights in Orlando and get ready to face the Hurricanes.
Travel day
After weeks of preparation for the Wisconsin football team’s trip to the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl, Wednesday is the day the rubber finally meets (and leaves) the tarmac. Read what’s on tap for the Badgers today with this story on UWBadgers.com.
Defensive line looking to bring the heat
O'Brien Schofield has spent hours scrutinizing video of Miami's talent-laden, diverse and balanced offense. He has been impressed by the work of the wide receivers, tight ends, running backs and, in particular, sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris. His formula for slowing Harris and Miami's offense and helping UW upset the 14th-ranked Hurricanes in the Champs Sports Bowl? "The biggest thing is that we just need our whole D-line to play as well as we did at Hawaii," Schofield told Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after a recent practice. "Everyone was bringing some type of pressure."
View from the other side
[Jacory Harris] addressed reporters Tuesday for the first time since the regular-season finale at South Florida, and said that this year he wants to give the seniors a parting gift -- despite a still-painful thumb injury, writes Susan Miller of the Miami Herald.
Miami coach Randy Shannon is too busy recruiting to take any time off, but he managed to spare a few minutes with ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich to look back on the 2009 season as well as look ahead to the Champs Sports Bowl against Wisconsin.
Given his pedigree, Mike Lucas of Madison.com thought it seemed fitting to get [former Miami quarterback Steve] Walsh to talk about the Miami team that will take on the University of Wisconsin in the Dec. 29 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.
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
After Sunday's Falcons-Jets game, Atlanta running back Michael Turner openly wondered whether New York safety Jim Leonhard had intentionally targeted his injured ankle on a hit that knocked Turner out of the game. On Monday, Leonhard said he did no such thing, and Jets coach Rex Ryan said he was upset at the mere suggestion, writes Michael David Smith on ProFootballTalk.com.
In case you missed it last week, P.J. Hill was released by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tweet of the Day
UWMadisonNews Take care if you're heading out of town, Badgers. Keep an eye on the forecast and road conditions: http://bit.ly/SY45B http://bit.ly/4Yt1jf Posted Dec. 22 at 3:44 p.m.
Follow us at Twitter.com/BadgerFootball and Coach Bielema at Twitter.com/BretBielema.
What you won’t find on Facebook
Chris Maragos’ family has had season tickets to UW football games since he was in kindergarten.
Note of the Day
This will be the fifth night bowl game in UW’s history and first since the 2002 Alamo Bowl. The Badgers are 3-1 all-time in bowl games played at night and have won 23 of their last 26 night games (including two this season - vs. Northern Illinois and at Hawaii).
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 First & Goal, email them to Karl Anderson at kga@athletics.wisc.edu.
