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Wisconsin Badgers football: Badgers' season ends with embarrassing loss

The Capital Times  —  12/28/2008 7:53 am

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A disappointing season for the University of Wisconsin football team ended with a thud.

Here's all you need to know about Florida State's 42-13 victory over the Badgers Saturday in the Champs Sports Bowl: The Seminoles' defense outscored UW's offense two touchdowns to one.

The embarrassing defeat ended a once-promising season for the Badgers (7-6), who were ranked in the Top 10 after a 3-0 start but finished with six losses in their last nine games, including three by more than 22 points.

The latest was UW's second-most lopsided defeat in a bowl game. The only bigger rout was a 44-8 loss to Washington in the 1960 Rose Bowl.

UW's lone touchdown came with 4:05 remaining in the game when Dustin Sherer connected with T.J. Theus for a 20-yard score.

P.J. Hill rushed for 135 yards and Philip Welch had two field goals, but there were precious few other bright spots for the Badgers.

Christian Ponder threw two touchdown passes for the Seminoles (9-4), who scored 28 consecutive points in the second half to break open a close game.

While this will go down as a blowout, UW will no doubt point to a key play in the third quarter as a turning point. The Badgers trailed just 14-6 when Jay Valai stripped the ball from Florida State receiver Bert Reed and recovered the fumble at the Seminoles' 25-yard line.

But the play was reversed after a review in the replay booth when officials ruled that Reed's knee was down when he and Valai had joint possession of the ball.

Florida State retained possession and completed a 16-play, 85-yard drive that ended with Antone Smith scoring on a 6-yard run to push the Seminoles' lead to 21-6.

UW moved into Florida State territory on the next drive, but the Seminoles recovered a fumble by Hill at the 23.

Florida State took advantage of a roughing the kicker penalty on its ensuing possession, although television replays indicated UW defensive end Louis Nzegwu didn't touch Florida State punter Graham Gano. Nonetheless, the penalty resulted in a first down, and the Seminoles scored four plays later on a 14-yard run by Carlton Jones to take a 28-6 lead.

Another big play in the game was Ponder's 15-yard touchdown pass to Greg Carr late in the first half that sent Florida State to halftime with a 14-3 lead.

UW had the ball with less than a minute left in the half but was forced to punt. Florida

State took over at the UW 47 with 40 seconds left. Four plays later, Carr made a great catch in the corner of the end zone with 7 seconds remaining.

Earlier in the second quarter, Florida State's Derek Nicholson scored on a 75-yard fumble recovery to give the Seminoles a 7-0 lead. Sherer's pass attempt to Hill behind the line of scrimmage was knocked down by Neefy Moffett. Nicholson scooped it up on one bounce and raced untouched into the end zone.

"We let them have two scores that don't even need to be on the board,'' UW coach Bret Bielema said during an interview with ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe at the end of the first half.

Bielema promised Rowe his team, which had moved the ball on the ground in the first half, would play Wisconsin football in the second half.

But that clearly didn't happen, and UW will have a long offseason to think about another disappointing defeat in a disappointing season.

The Capital Times  —  12/28/2008 7:53 am