EVANSTON, ILL.-In what should have been a blowout game, an easy win for Wisconsin before a week off, the Badgers did the one thing that guaranteed them a loss: They did not show up.
In a 16-7 defeat at the hands of Northwestern, the Badgers (3-2 Big Ten, 6-3 overall) looked lethargic, compared to an energized Wildcats (2-2 Big Ten, 4-4 overall) team celebrating its Homecoming. Junior quarterback Matt Schabert led the Badgers in his first career start, just 30 miles from his hometown of Elgin, Ill. Although the game was well within reach and the Badgers never trailed by more than nine points, they could not establish consistency.
\We've got to come out and play deep, and I don't know if we did that today and you can't let that happen,"" said junior safety Jim Leonhard, who had an interception in the fourth quarter, his conference-leading fifth of the year. ""We'll be a mediocre team in the league if we come out and take someone lightly, and we've got to find what our problem is and we'll fix it.""
Northwestern (2-2, 4-4) began the scoring late in the first quarter, as sophomore quarterback Brett Basanez threw a 53-yard pass to senior running back Jason Wright, who sprinted into the end zone for the first score. A kick by redshirt freshman placekicker Joel Howells, however, was blocked, leaving Northwestern with six points.
Northwestern had another scoring opportunity early in the second quarter, driving the ball down to the eight yard line before Basanez threw two incomplete passes, bringing in the kicking team. Howells' kick was blocked and picked up by sophomore cornerback Levonne Rowan. Wisconsin could not capitalize on its advantageous position and punted on fourth down, a trend that continued throughout the game.
""We never really could establish anything and offensively, we couldn't put anything together consistently. On defense, we missed a lot of tackles. We just didn't play really well,"" Head Coach Barry Alvarez said.
Wisconsin recovered midway through the second quarter with a score of its own. Wisconsin sophomore running back Dwayne Smith, in for junior tailback Anthony Davis, who sustained an injury late in the first quarter, took a handoff from Matt Schabert and turned it into an 18-yard touchdown. UW led 7-6, the only time it was ahead of the Wildcats all game.
Before the clock wore down in the second quarter, Northwestern was back on the board, this time the result of a 25-yard field goal by junior placekicker and punter Brian Huffman. Northwestern left the field with the momentum swinging toward them.
""Credit Northwestern,"" Alvarez said. ""They did a great job. They deserved to win.""
The second half saw more missed opportunities by Wisconsin and another Northwestern score that put the game away. With a little more than two minutes left in the third quarter, Northwestern faked a punt, handing the ball off to junior running back Noah Herron, who skirted blockers and ran around the right side of the field to the three-yard line. Wright ran the ball into the end zone two plays later.
""We ran it a few times in my career,"" Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker said. ""I'm the world's greatest plagiarist. We took it from Ball State University. They did it to somebody and I went, 'man...' We just took it off the tape. We started doing it, and it's got a high rate of success.""
The Northwestern Wildcats found that success on the field today. And as for Wisconsin? They have a week off and a few lessons to learn.
""After playing the way we played, you can't come out and compete like this and perform like this,"" Leonhard said. ""We knew we had to play better and ... until we figure out we're not going to just show up and win these games ... we're going to be a mediocre team.\
