Returning home on a cold, blustery day at Camp Randall, the No. 7 Wisconsin offense caught fire as UW cruised to an 83-20 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers.
While the game was seemingly out of reach for the Hoosiers by the end of the first half, the game had begun close. Tied at 10 in the first quarter, a 51-yard kick return by David Gilreath led to the third-straight UW scoring drive to start the game. A one-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Montee Ball put the Badgers up 17-10 and, from there, they never looked back.
""I think it's all due to the guys in front of me,"" Gilreath said after the game. ""They're doing a great job just going out there and putting their bodies on the line.""
""At the beginning I felt like we were going to go blow for blow the whole game,"" senior guard John Moffitt said. ""And then it just landslided.""
By half time, that Wisconsin lead had grown to 28 on the strength of three more touchdown drives, including one capped by Ball's third TD of the half, this time coming on an 8-yard rush into the end zone.
Making his first start of the year, Ball rushed 20 times for a career-high 145 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, adding two more rushes for 22 yards in the third quarter before exiting the game with 22 rushes for 167 yards on the day.
""It's a great feeling for sure,"" Ball said following the game. ""I give credit to the offensive line for working up front.""
After putting together two more touchdown drives to open the second half, the day was over for the first string, a 45-10 lead in hand.
But while the names started to change in the second half, the momentum of the Wisconsin offense never slowed. Freshman quarterback Jon Budmayr entered the game late in the third quarter to replace senior Scott Tolzien. After leading the Badgers to a 42-yard Philip Welch field goal, Budmayr faced a third and 5, with the score now 62-13. Budmayr responded by eluding the Hoosier defensive front and hurling a 74-yard TD pass to Jared Abbrederis to increase the Badger point total to 56.
""I think we just played hard until the end,"" Moffitt said. ""We were putting two's in and three's in … so I don't think we were blatantly trying to run up the score.""
As if the highlight reel pass from the second string quarterback wasn't enough, Wisconsin still had two more scores left in them, the first a pick six by junior defensive back Aaron Henry and the final score, followed by a 17-yard Nate Tice touchdown run to push the Badgers over the 80-point mark.
The interception return was special for Henry, whose mother was in the stands for the first time.
""It was real exciting,"" Henry said. ""Words can't explain how I felt when I was actually able to get into the end zone.""
While a Big Ten scoring record is certainly a nice addition to the BCS resume, next week's road test in Ann Arbor looms large as the Badgers, ranked seventh for the second straight week in the BCS standings, still have two more obstacles in the way of their BCS hopes.
Conference title and BCS implications aside, the Michigan game has an added significance as Wisconsin tries desperately to send a message following a heartbreaking loss in 2008 that saw them blow a 19-point halftime lead.
""We all know what happened last time we went to Michigan,"" head coach Bret Bielema said after today's win. ""If that doesn't have a place in your stomach, I don't know what will.""
