Badgers down NIU in season opener, 28-20
September 05, 2009 | Football
Junior quarterback Scott Tolzien completed 15-of-20 passes for 257 yards in his first career start Saturday night as Wisconsin (1-0) defeated Northern Illinois (0-1), 28-20, to open the 2009 season in front of 80,532 fans inside Camp Randall Stadium.
UW wide receiver Isaac Anderson and running back John Clay each had two touchdowns in the Badger victory. Tonight's win over NIU makes it 12-straight season-opening wins for the Badgers.
NIU...............3 - 3 - 0 - 14 -- 20
Wisconsin.....7 - 7 - 14 - 0 -- 28
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Read postid=2347"> --> Betsy Golomski's live in-game blog from the press box in Camp Randall Stadium.
UWBadgers.com covers all the angles of Wisconsin's season-opening win over the Huskies.
Brian Mason will talk about all the new faces on the field today for UW in his sportid=111&storyid=18917"> --> Badger Bits column. Patrick Herb was on the field Saturday night and gives us sportid=111&storyid=18913"> --> A View from the Sidelines . Allison Metcalf also did a story on sportid=111&storyid=18918"> --> UW's big first play of the game .
Scroll down to see a number of other links from tonight's game.
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Tolzien got the 2009 season started on a positive note, as his first pass went 80 yards to Isaac Anderson and resulted in a touchdown. His touchdown throw ties for the fifth-longest pass play in UW history.
NIU then got on the board for the first time after a 40-yard field goal by Mike Salerno.
Anderson scored his second touchdown of the game on the opening play of the second quarter. Tolzien handed off to Anderson on the end-around as he rushed 23 yards into the end zone to give Wisconsin the 14-3 lead.
NIU registered another 29-yard field goal to put the score at 14-3 heading into halftime.
Wisconsin dominated the third quarter, registering two touchdowns and won the time of possession battle 12:11 to NIU's 2:49. Clay capped off drives of 11 plays and 12 plays with a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs to give the Badgers a 28-6 lead with 1:47 left in the third quarter.
Northern Illinois did not give up, though, and scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. They opened up with a nine-play drive that resulted in a 1-yard touchdown run by Chad Spann. After the failed two-point conversion attempt, the Huskies intercepted Tolzien on Wisconsin's next drive. NIU took advantage by going 10 plays for 31 yards for a touchdown and two-point conversion to put the score at 28-20.
After a successful onside kick attempt, the Huskies got the ball back at their own 44. They drove all the way to the UW 36 before Chris Maragos broke up a pass on fourth and three to ice the win.
Three Badger receivers finished with 70 or more yards Saturday. Anderson led the way with 100 yards off three grabs (all in the first half). Garrett Graham had six catches for 82 yards and Nick Toon had a career-high five catches for 72 yards.
Clay and Zach Brown split time in the Badger backfield, finishing with 43 and 51 yards, respectively.
RELATED CONTENT:
- postid=2347"> --> In-game blog
- id=11456"> --> Final Stats
- sportid=111&storyid=18911"> --> Wisconsin vs. NIU Post-Game Notes
- sportid=111&storyid=18912"> --> Bret Bielema Post-Game Quotes
- sportid=111&storyid=18916"> --> NIU Head Coach Jerry Kill Post-Game Quotes
- sportid=111&storyid=18915"> --> UW Player Quotes
- galleryID=469"> --> Photo Gallery
- code=wis"> --> Video Available on All-Access Player (Click by sport tab and find football to view Coach Bielema's Post-Game Video, UW Player Interviews, Video Highlights)
