BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — During the overtime coin toss here Saturday night, the Nebraska captains called "Foltzy" in tribute to the memory of their late teammate, Sam Foltz.
And that's what turned up on the Big Ten's commemorative coin honoring Foltz, the Cornhuskers punter, and Mike Sadler, the former Michigan State punter.
In late July, Foltz and Sadler were killed in a car accident outside of Waukesha, where they were attending a kicking camp with other specialists, including UW's Rafael Gaglianone.
Nebraska elected to go on defense first in the overtime, a standard rule of thumb. The Badgers opted to defend the north end zone, the student end of Camp Randall Stadium.
To a player, the offense was looking to get the ball first, conventional wisdom be damned.
"We struggled all night," said tight end Troy Fumagalli, "and we needed a shot."
"Offensively, we always want the ball to start the game — we just always want the ball," said left tackle Ryan Ramczyk. "It was cool to be able to go out there and put up points first."
"I was very confident," said tailback Corey Clement, who had a 41-yard run late in the fourth quarter to set up a potential game-winning field goal. "We had momentum."
"It doesn't matter when you get the ball (in overtime)," said center Michael Deiter, noting if you lose the coin toss, "You can't go, 'Oh, crap, we really have to score now because we have the ball first.'
"Instead," emphasized Deiter, a budding team leader, "you have to look at that as, 'It's on us. There's no waiting around. Let's go score. Let's win this game.'"
That was the mindset that the UW players took into overtime — just two weeks removed from a crushing defeat to Ohio State when the Badgers failed to match the Buckeyes' touchdown in OT.
"That Ohio State game was tough," reflected tailback Dare Ogunbowale. "It was a hard-fought game through 60 minutes and we just came up short." Nobody wanted to feel that way again.
"Coach (Paul Chryst) put it in my hands," Clement said of the overtime strategy, "and then I just tossed it back over to Dare and he walked it in."
Sure enough, Clement picked up 5, 7 and 2 yards before Ogunbowale got his turn to carry the rock and scored on an 11-yard run around left end to put the Badgers ahead, 23-17.
"That was the play that I got stopped on (earlier)," Ogunbowale lamented.
The Badgers had run the same play near the end of regulation.
On third-and-4, Ogunbowale was held to 2 yards, forcing a field-goal attempt.
"They trusted me and got back to it and I was successful with it," said Ogunbowale, whose scoring run came on second-and-8.
"Honestly, I just wanted to make sure I made a play, picked up the first down, or whatever it was. Then I got to the next level and I was able to make a guy miss and beat them to the end zone."
But Andrew Endicott missed the extra point leaving the Badgers vulnerable.
"I wasn't too nervous (about it)," Ogunbowale said. "The defense was playing lights out and I had a lot of confidence in them, especially with him missing the extra point.
"I just knew that gave them even more of a sense of urgency to get it done because they knew they had to. Like I said, the defense was playing great all game and we were kind of lagging behind."
When D'Cota Dixon knocked down Tommy Armstrong's pass targeted for Stanley Morgan in the deep corner of the end zone, Ogunbowale raced on to the field to celebrate the dramatic victory.
With a season-high 120 rushing yards, Ogunbowale had a big hand in it.
"He played out of his mind," Deiter said. "He was making plays and that was great to see."
Ogunbowale made the most out of his 11 carries by averaging 10.9 yards per rush.
For perspective, he had 11 carries for 36 yards in the three previous games combined.
There's something about Nebraska that brings the best out of him.
"Yeah, I guess so," he said, laughing. "My first touchdown was against Nebraska."
That was in 2014. Not that anyone would remember that he scored on an 8-yard run late in the fourth quarter, extending Wisconsin's lead to 59-17 over the Cornhuskers.
Everything and everybody was overshadowed by Melvin Gordon's 408 yards.
Last season, though, Ogunbowale helped rally the Badgers to a 23-21 win in Lincoln by rushing 18 times for 117 yards, a career high until he went for 155 against Minnesota later in the year.
So, what is it about the Huskers that has Ogunbowale seeing red — Big Red?
"I don't know," he said. "They're a well-coached team. They are awesome guys. And it's just fun playing against a team like that. I was just able to make some stuff happen against them."
On Saturday, Ogunbowale ran the draw play to perfection.
"I'm not sure if we've run it too much in games, but it has been in the game plan," Ogunbowale said. "We're showing pass and the guys do a great job of blocking, kind of disguising that it's a run."
Fumagalli had another perspective from a technical standpoint.
"They did a good job recognizing 21 and 22 personnel," he said of the Huskers defense, "and they were loading up the box and bringing the safety down."
21 personnel: two running backs, one tight end and two wide receivers.
22 personnel: two running backs, two tight ends and one wide receiver.
"We got in our 11 personnel," Fumagalli said, "and let Dare move around a little bit."
11 personnel: one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers.
Getting into a "rhythm" was the key for Ogunbowale.
"Running backs are all about feeling out the game," he said. "You know early in the game you might not get the big runs but you get into the rhythm, you get into the tempo of the game.
"You understand how it's working and you're able to let things go once you get comfortable. That's big for anyone and I was glad that I was able to get into that rhythm."
Equally important was trusting his speed and not hesitating in the hole.
"I usually like to shake some (make moves) because I'm not sure if I get can to the edge," Ogunbowale admitted. "But you just have to let it go and trust your speed and it worked out for me."
It did for the offense, too, in overtime, though the Badgers weren't always clicking.
"We see ourselves better than we were," Fumagalli said.
There were spurts and a handful of big plays.
"That's the definition of a true tough-sledding game when you've got to fight through adversity through the last down," said Clement. "It wasn't pretty but we got the victory."
That's how both quarterbacks saw it.
"Obviously, it wasn't the exact type of game that we wanted," said Alex Hornibrook, who was 10-of-16 for 71 yards with one touchdown pass (to Rob Wheelwright) and one interception.
"There were times when we felt good moving the ball and there were times when it was three-and-out and we couldn't get anything going.
"I already know everything I could have done better. And I'm going to make a lot of improvements starting tomorrow (in film review)."
Bart Houston was 4-of-7 for 43 yards. He was also guilty of an interception.
"I probably shouldn't have thrown it obviously," he said of the pass that was picked off by Nathan Gerry, his second of the fourth quarter. "It wasn't a good play for me. It was a bad play for us."
But the Badgers found a way to overcome the mistakes.
"It's huge for our confidence and moving forward in the West to win a close game like that," said Fumagalli, who had already shifted his attention to next Saturday's game at Northwestern.
"It's something we can piggyback on and keep this momentum rolling," added Deiter. "We won, but there's so much we can get better at which is encouraging. But we've got to get better."
When it was suggested to Houston that the Badgers have taken on a "Kardiac Kids" persona because of all the "nail-biters" that they've played this season, he did a double-take.
"I don't know what that means," he said with a blank look. "I've never heard of it."
After it was explained to him, minus any obscure reference to the 1980 Cleveland Browns, Houston said that playing close games that come down to the wire are "just normal for us."
Expanding on that thought, he went on to say, "We're a bunch of grinders … it just feels good now to be bowl eligible. That was the first goal, six wins. Now the next one is to win the West."
There was a pause.
"Kardiac Kids, huh?" Houston pondered.
Whatever fits.
