It hadn't been done in 11 years. Since 1994, no Badger football team had beaten the Michigan Wolverines. Badgers' head coach Barry Alvarez had never beaten Michigan's Lloyd Carr, but Saturday night, it all changed.
Playing in what was described as an \unbelievable atmosphere"" by junior quarterback John Stocco, the Badgers (1-0 Big Ten, 4-0 overall) fought through a stagnant offensive performance in the first half and managed to hold the Wolverines (0-1, 2-2) to seven points and only one third down conversion in the second half.
Trailing 20-16 with 4:29 left to play, the Badgers lined up at the 48-yard line and started a drive that will be remembered by many. Junior running back Brian Calhoun carried the load for most of the final drive-something he had been doing the entire game. The drive started with a two-yard carry by Calhoun and was followed by two more plays of the same variety which led to a Wisconsin first down. Stocco then found his go-to wide receiver senior Brandon Williams for a nine yard reception which brought the Badgers to Michigan's 32-yard line. The next three plays were a trio of efforts from Calhoun: a run for nine yards, a reception for nine yards and another reception for 10 yards.
Then came the biggest surprise of all.
Calhoun, who totaled 75 percent of the offense in the final drive and 51 percent of the total offensive yardage for the game, did not touch the ball again. The Badgers called their second time out of the contest to talk over the offensive strategy.
While all of the Badger nation keyed their eyes on Brian Calhoun, Alvarez and company had a different plan.
On first and goal, Stocco dropped back to pass and had the ball deflected on its way to his intended target. Second and goal saw the same results as Stocco tried to find senior wide out Jonathon Orr in the corner of the end zone. On third and goal, Stocco dropped back to pass again while the majority of Camp Randall gasped in shock.
Stocco tucked the ball and ran into the open arms of the end zone to put the Badgers up for good.
""Well, their defensive linemen were flying out of there and if Brian isn't touching the ball, running the ball, we're going to throw it, so I'm sure the last thing on their minds was John [Stocco] on the quarterback draw. Henry Mason [Wisconsin's wide receivers coach] is the one that mentioned it on the sideline, he said, 'Look at them inside, they are flying out of there,' and I thought it was a good call,"" Alvarez said.
The Badgers netted only 93 yards and three points in the first half, which ended with Michigan on top 13-3. But, as has been the modis operandi since the 2004 season, the Badgers just win games.
""The number one goal is to win games. Obviously it's nice to have some success throwing the football and moving the chains. That's all pretty and good, but I just want to win games. That's the number one goal,"" Stocco said.
Wisconsin's saving grace was the defensive effort when the game was truly on the line. Michigan's first possession was a drive of 96 yards that ended on the 50 yard line.
Michigan's freshman running back Kevin Grady tried to punch the ball in over the middle, but junior defensive back Joe Stellmacher and junior linebacker Mark Zalewski stopped Grady in his tracks. Michigan was the first ranked team to fall to the Badgers in the 2005 season, and, with the win, Wisconsin has moved up to 17 in the AP polls while Michigan has fallen out of the top 25 for the first time since 1998. The Badgers take on the Indiana Hoosiers at home at 11 a.m. on October 1.
