The Power I. Big, bruising running backs. Mammoth, cheese-eating, northern bred hogs on the offensive line. A stifling defense. A running game that wins games and championships.
When most people talk of Wisconsin Badger football, these are the things that enter their minds. From such historic UW running backs as Alan \The Iron Horse"" Ameche, Elroy ""Crazy Legs"" Hirsch and Billy Marek to Brent Moss, Ron Dayne and most recently junior Anthony Davis, the Badger teams of past and present are often defined by the running attacks and the backs that made them so effective. After this year, that all could change.
Now, no one needs to worry about the Badgers failing to produce a Big Ten record 11th straight season with a 1,000 yard rusher. But this year there could be quite a few more footballs flying around Camp Randall, more than Badger fans have seen in about a decade.
Since 1990, the first year under Head Coach Barry Alvarez, the Badgers have had a certain reputation for the way they play the game. Alvarez, a former assistant both with Hayden Fry in Iowa and at Notre Dame, brought much of the old school football philosophy in his attempt to restore Wisconsin to prominence.
Play knock-'em-in-the-mouth defense and control the clock by running the ball. And if you needed to throw the ball, a short ball control passing game is what was used. Rarely did one see multiple wide receiver sets or shotgun formations. It was this kind of game plan that led the Badgers to the Rose Bowl in 1993. Brent Moss set a new single season rushing record (since broken by Dayne) for the Badgers, running for over 1,600 yards.
But it was Darrell Bevell and his mastery of the short pass that produced the greatest passing season a Wisconsin quarterback has ever seen. Bevell threw for almost 2,400 yards and 19 touchdowns en route to the Badgers' Cinderella finish that year. Bevell went on to become Wisconsin's all time leader in career passing yards, amassing 7,686 yards and 59 touchdowns in four years as a starter.
Bevell benefited from having some of Wisconsin's top receivers to throw to in his career; ""Touchdown"" Tony Simmons, number four all-time on Wisconsin's receiving yardage ranks, and Lee DeRamus, number five all-time. DeRamus had 902 yards receiving in the Rose Bowl year of 1993, setting what was then a Wisconsin record (since broken by senior wide receiver in Lee Evans in 2001). With receivers to throw to and pure pocket passer under center, the passing game became a steady complement to the power running game.
The 1982 and 1983 seasons also marked a rise in the way the Badger offense moved the ball. In 1982, QB Randy Wright set the then single season record for passing with 2,292 yards, only to break his own record the following year, throwing for 2,329 yards. Part of the ease of throwing the ball was the fact that Wright often looked for his favorite receiver, Al Toon. In 1984 Toon went on to become Wisconsin's all-time leading receiver in yardage and receptions, breaking all of Pat Richter's old records and making his claim as the Badgers' greatest receiver.
After last Saturday's performance, senior QB Jim Sorgi, the most polished passer the Badger program has seen since, Darrell Bevell, has already moved into 12th place on the Badger's career passing yardage list after starting only six games in his career.
Senior wide receiver Lee Evans already holds the career receiving yardage record with 2,255 yards and will only add to it with each coming game. Evans needs 986 yards to become the Big Ten's all-time leader in receiving yards and 14 receptions and nine touchdowns to set new career records at Wisconsin.
Last year, in the absence of Evans, freshman receivers Jonathon Orr and Brandon Williams rewrote the freshman receiving record books, finishing the year as one and two, respectively, atop the season receiving yards record for freshman. Orr and Williams return as sophomores, improved from their stellar rookie campaigns.
Shotgun formation. Four-wide, ace backfield. Trips stack right. These are the formations that Badger fans will see this year. With the best throwing quarterback the program has seen in ten years and three potential All-American wideouts capable of producing big plays every time they catch the ball, there will be plenty of footballs being hurled into the end zone this year. Let the aerial circus begin.
