Capital One Bowl, Orlando provides statement opportunity, again
December 09, 2013 | Football
Dec. 9, 2013
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com
MADISON, Wis. -- Beau Allen, then a high school senior in Minnetonka, Minn., remembered the exhilaration that he felt watching Wisconsin beat Miami (Fla.) in the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl. Ten days earlier, Allen had verbally committed to the Badgers who overpowered the Hurricanes, 20-14, in Orlando, Fla.
"I remember watching the game with my parents," said Allen, "and I remembered being so excited about the future (of the UW program). It's funny because it seems so long ago."
It was three Rose Bowls ago that Wisconsin capped a 10-3 season with its win over the `Canes at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in a game that would serve as a springboard to all the success that the Badgers have enjoyed since then, including this season's 9-3 team under first-year coach Gary Andersen.
The fact that Wisconsin is returning to Orlando for a Jan. 1 matchup against South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl brings the journey full-circle for most of the fifth-year seniors who traveled with the team as freshmen redshirts the last time that the Badgers played at this 65,000-seat venue.
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"I had surgery on my right wrist before the game, so I was just along for the ride," recalled safety Dez Southward. "But I learned a lot from just watching that game. I learned how to prepare for obviously a big-time opponent in Miami and how we went down there and handled business.
"It was great being together for a week straight like that (in Orlando) - our last week together that season - and we came together as a team. It was amazing to watch how they (the seniors) went out and executed our game plan. It helped me going forward in my career."
Scott Tolzien completed 19-of-26 passes for 260 yards; John Clay ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns; Lance Kendricks had seven receptions for 128 yards; J.J. Watt and O'Brien Schofield each had two TFLs; and the Badgers controlled the ball for 39 minutes and 15 seconds.
Oh, one other thing. Miami's players didn't want to be there. It was 50 degrees at kickoff. "And they had heaters going on their sidelines," said an incredulous Southward, a Florida native who has become hardened by his exposure to Midwest winters. "That was kind of funny."
The Badgers definitely had the last laugh on the Hurricanes who grabbed a stunning 7-0 lead just 23 seconds into the game. Sam Shields, now a starting defensive back with the Green Bay Packers, took a reverse handoff and returned the opening kickoff for an apparent touchdown.
But the score was wiped out by a penalty; an illegal block to the back. Shields was officially credited with an 84-yard return. No biggie for Miami. On the first play from scrimmage, Graig Cooper scored on a 16-yard run. But it would be the last time the `Canes visited the end zone until 1:22 left.
"Watching the seniors on that team execute was fun," said Wisconsin tight end Brian Wozniak, who was also redshirting as a true freshman on that previous trip to Orlando. "We've taken a lot from that senior class and applied it to our work (ethic) the last four years.
"Some of the best leaders that I've ever seen were in that senior and junior class and we've really tried to emulate that core group. We saw how that worked for them. As a senior class, I think we've done a great job of it (making it work). But we have to finish out the season in the right way."
It was one of the lessons learned in Orlando; the last time the Badgers won a bowl.
"I think you saw this program elevated, not that it wasn't there before; they had won two Rose Bowls back-to-back (in 1999 and 2000)," said Southward, who was attempting to bring some context to that win over Miami. "But I think it brought Wisconsin back to the forefront."
Southward was spot-on. In 2008, the Badgers finished with a disappointing 7-6 overall record after getting crushed, 42-13, by Florida State in the very same Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando. It was up to the '09 team to restore some luster to the program and get it back on the right track.
"Hopefully this trip to Orlando will be another springboard," Southward said. "The last time it was for the three Rose Bowl berths. Hopefully this time it will be for even more (like the four-team College Football Playoff). We're not taking this game lightly at all. This is an enormous game.
"Just because it's not the Rose Bowl, just because it's not a BCS bowl game, it doesn't mean the opponent is not the same caliber (of TCU, Oregon or Stanford; UW's three opponents in Pasadena). That's the case with South Carolina. They're above and beyond almost anybody we've played this year."
The 10-2 Gamecocks have a chance for a third straight 11-win season; an historic three-year run that dates back to their 30-13 victory over Nebraska in 2012 Capital One Bowl. Prior to 2011, South Carolina had won 10 or more games only once in school history.
The Gamecocks are the only team in the nation with two wins in the regular season over schools that will be playing in BCS bowls. They won at Central Florida, 28-25; UCF will face Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl. They also crushed Clemson, 31-17; the Tigers have drawn Ohio State in the Orange Bowl.
In the 2012 Outback Bowl, the Gamecocks rallied for a 33-28 win over Michigan on Dylan Thompson's 32-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington with only 11 seconds remaining. Most will remember that game for Jadeveon Clowney's memorable hit on Vincent Smith.
During Sunday's presser announcing the South Carolina-Wisconsin pairing, there were a number of references to Clowney, who looms potentially as the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. When Wosniak was asked if he had seen the Clowney/Smith collision, he said, "Yes, every day on SportsCenter."
Inserting his tongue in cheek, Allen said, "Yeah, I've definitely seen him play; I think everyone has. He's always kind of in the spotlight. But I think our O-line goes against the most talented and athletic defensive line every day. I don't know if No. 7 is that much more athletic than No. 96 in red."
Clowney is No. 7; Allen is No. 96 in red.
"I was just joking," Allen said.
Seriously, though, what have the Badgers taken from their three losses in the Rose Bowl? And how can they apply that knowledge to their Cap One Bowl game against South Carolina?
"It might seem trivial but it's really important to stay focused when you're at the bowl site," Allen said. "It's important to stay locked-in and realize that it's not a vacation. You're there to win a game. In the past, we've done a good job with that. We just have to stay focused."
Neither Southward, nor Wozniak, nor Allen, for that matter, believes that will be a problem; not with the way the Badgers lost their regular season finale to Penn State and not with the way they have lost in consecutive Rose Bowls. "We definitely want to make a statement," Allen said.
Just like they did the last time they played in Orlando.
