2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team

The 2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Bret Bielema, the Badgers completed the season with a 12–1 record, including a 7–1 mark in the Big Ten Conference, good for a second-place tie with Michigan.

2006 Wisconsin Badgers football
Capital One Bowl champion
Capital One Bowl, W 17–14 vs. Arkansas
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 7
Record12–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorPaul Chryst (2nd season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorMike Hankwitz (1st season)
Base defense4–3
MVPJohn Stocco
Joe Thomas
Joe Monty
Mark Zalewski
Joe Stellmacher
Roderick Rogers
CaptainJohn Stocco
Joe Thomas
Mark Zalewski
(4th captain named each game)
Home stadiumCamp Randall Stadium
(Capacity: 80,321)
2006 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 2 Ohio State $  8 –0   12 –1  
No. 8 Michigan %  7 –1   11 –2  
No. 7 Wisconsin  7 –1   12 –1  
No. 24 Penn State  5 –3   9 –4  
Purdue  5 –3   8 –6  
Minnesota  3 –5   6 –7  
Indiana  3 –5   5 –7  
Northwestern  2 –6   4 –8  
Iowa  2 –6   6 –7  
Illinois  1 –7   2 –10  
Michigan State  1 –7   4 –8  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The season was one of the most successful in Badgers football history. The 11 regular-season wins and 12 overall wins were both single season records for the Badgers, and the season ended with a second straight victory in the Capital One Bowl, over Arkansas, 17-14. The Badgers, who were not ranked in the preseason and were expected to finish in the middle of the Big Ten, surprised many with their success and ended the season ranked #7 in the AP Poll and #5 in the Coaches' Poll.

Preseason

The Badgers were picked to finish in the middle of the Big Ten conference and were not ranked in the preseason for a number of reasons. Early defections to the National Football League by second-team All-Americans Brandon Williams and Brian Calhoun left the Badger offense with only three returning starters. Additionally, with the departure of Barry Alvarez – who had just completed his final season with 10 wins and a Capital One Bowl victory – the head coaching job was taken over by Bret Bielema, then the youngest head coach in Division I-A football.

Bright spots for the Badgers included returning All-American offensive tackle Joe Thomas, who was coming off an ACL injury. John Stocco resumed the starting position at quarterback for his senior season, and P. J. Hill, Jr. won the starting tailback job. The defense was to be led by senior linebacker Mark Zalewski and senior strong safety Joe Stellmacher. The special teams unit was considered strong, with All-American candidate Ken DeBauche punting the ball.

Some sportswriters felt that the non-conference schedule was fairly weak. Early in the season, the team's non-conference schedule was placed on the "waiting list" of ESPN.com's Bottom 10 rankings.[1]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 26:00 p.m.vs. Bowling Green*
ESPN+W 35–1430,307[2]
September 92:30 p.m.Western Illinois*
ESPNUW 34–1080,845[2]
September 162:30 p.m.San Diego State*
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
ESPN+W 14–081,090[2]
September 2311:00 a.m.at No. 6 Michigan
ESPNL 13–27111,058[2]
September 3011:00 a.m.at Indiana
ESPN2W 52–1732,142[2]
October 711:00 a.m.Northwestern
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
ESPN360W 41–981,704[2]
October 1411:00 a.m.MinnesotadaggerNo. 25
ESPNW 48–1282,010[2]
October 2111:00 a.m.at PurdueNo. 21
ESPNW 24–358,111[2]
October 2811:00 a.m.IllinoisNo. 17
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
ESPN2W 30–2481,300[2]
November 411:00 a.m.Penn StateNo. 17
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
ABCW 13–381,777[2]
November 1111:00 a.m.at IowaNo. 16
ESPNW 24–2170,585[2]
November 1811:00 a.m.Buffalo*No. 12
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
ESPNUW 35–380,850[2]
January 1, 200712:00 p.m.vs. No. 12 Arkansas*No. 6
ABCW 17–1460,774[2]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Roster
2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense } } Offensive Line
Pos.#NameClass
WR 11 Isaac Anderson Fr
RB 24 Josh Balts Jr
TE 9 Travis Beckum So
WR 29 Niles Brinkley Fr
TE 37 Matt Brown  Jr
OL 78 Jake Bscherer Fr
RB 27 Jerry Butler Fr
OT 68 Gabe Carimi Fr
OL 65 Marcus Coleman  Jr
TE 43 Andy Crooks Jr
TE 45 Kirk DeCremer Fr
QB 12 Tyler Donovan  Jr
WR 44 Chris Eernisse  Fr
QB 4 Allan Evridge  So
RB 38 Dion Foster Fr
WR 17 Matt Gifford Fr
TE 88 Garrett Graham  Fr
WR 2 Xavier Harris Fr
RB 39 P. J. Hill  Fr
WR 85 Jeff Holzbauer  Sr
WR 19 Paul Hubbard  Jr
WR 22 Diondrae Jenkins Fr
OL 64 Danny Kaye  Jr
OL 75 Andy Kemp So
TE 84 Lance Kendricks Fr
WR 17 Richard Kirtley  Fr
OL 60 Luke Knauf  Jr
WR 20 Derek Konkol  Sr
OL 58 Mike Lenzendorf Fr
TE 82 Sean Lewis  So
TE 47 Jaevery McFadden Fr
WR 88 Jarvis Minton Jr
TE 23 Joseph Molenda Fr
QB 3 Maurice Moore Fr
G 76 Bill Nagy Fr
TE 81 Dave Peck  So
WR 27 Shane Phillips Fr
TE 48 Nathan Quist Jr
WR 13 Marcus Randle El Jr
FB 34 Bill Rentmeester  So
RB 24 Dywon Rowan  Sr
WR 8 Jarmal Ruffin  Fr
QB 18 Dustin Sherer Fr
RB 5 Lance Smith Fr
QB 7 John Stocco (C)  Sr
WR 15 Luke Swan  Jr
WR 86 Elijah Theus  Fr
OT 72 Joe Thomas (C) Sr
QB 16 Scott Tolzien Fr
TE 36 Mickey Turner Fr
G 63 Kraig Urbik  So
OL 71 Eric Vanden Heuvel So
OL 62 Mike Van Someren  Jr
OL 66 Dirk Watters  Fr
OL 70 Andrew Weininger  Jr
RB 48 Dan Wiacek Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 37 Phil Ayeni Fr
DL 71 Brian Behnke Fr
DB 25 Shane Carter So
DL 77 Dan Cascone Fr
LB 2 Jonathan Casillas So
DL 91 Jason Chapman  So
DL 5 Jamal Cooper  Jr
DL 98 Gino Cruse Jr. So
DB 30 Jameson Davis So
DB 31 Nate Egholm Jr
LB 49 Ryan Flasch  So
DB 29 Antonio Freeman So
DL 73 Mark Gorman  Sr
DB 26 Zach Hampton  Sr
DT 96 Nick Hayden Jr
DL 59 Brandon Hoey Fr
LB 52 Elijah Hodge  Fr
LB 12 Casey Hogan  Jr
DB 30 Tyler Holland Fr
CB 6 Jack Ikegwuonu  Jr
LB 23 Paul Joran  Sr
DB 20 James Kamoku  Jr
DL 56 Brandon Kelly  Jr
DB 17 Allen Langford  So
LB 38 Ben Landgraf So
LB 11 DeAndre Levy So
LB 30 Adam Ludovic Fr
DB 24 Jamathan Lyle Fr
DL 74 John Moffitt Fr
DE 95 Joe Monty  Sr
DB 46 Tony Morrissey Fr
LB 51 Joshua Neal  So
DB 21 Josh Nettles Fr
DE 54 Mike Newkirk  So
DL 99 Justin Ostrowski  Jr
DB 28 Aubrey Pleasant So
DL 55 Adam Purcell Jr
LB 50 O'Brien Schofield  Fr
CB 22 Roderick Rogers Sr
DB 32 Kim Royston Fr
DE 92 Matt Shaughnessy So
DB 45 Joe Sibley  Jr
DB 14 Culmer St. Jean Fr
DB 16 Joe Stellmacher  Sr
DB 3 Ben Strickland  Jr
DB 15 Jay Valai Fr
DL 34 Kurt Ware  Jr
DB 4 Johnny White Sr
DL 94 Derek Yentz  Jr
LB 41 Mark Zalewski (C)  Sr
 Special teams }
Pos.#NameClass
P 94 Ken DeBauche  Jr
K 96 Matt Fischer  Fr
LS 57 Steve Johnson  Jr
K 10 Taylor Mehlhaff Jr
K 98 Adam Schober So
P 97 Paul Standring  Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Paul Chryst – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
  • Mike Hankwitz – Defensive coordinator
  • Dave Doeren – Co-defensive Coordinator/inside linebackers/recruiting coordinator
  • Bob Bostad – Tight ends
  • Kerry Cooks – Defensive backs
  • Henry Mason – Wide receivers/Assistant Recruiting Coordinator
  • Randall McCray – Defensive line
  • Bob Palcic – Offensive line
  • John Settle – Running backs
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

Bowling Green
See also: 2006 Bowling Green Falcons football team
Wisconsin vs Bowling Green – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Badgers 7 14 7735
Falcons 7 0 7014

at Cleveland Browns Stadium

  • Date: September 2, 2006
  • Game time: 6:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C); Mostly cloudy; Wind at E 14 MPH
  • Game attendance: 30,307
  • Referee: Steve Newman
  • TV: ESPN+
Game information

In his debut, P. J. Hill, Jr. had 130 rushing yards and a touchdown to lead the Badgers to a victory over the hometeam Falcons. The Badgers broke a 7–7 tie in the second quarter when a Alonso Rojas punt was blocked by Jonathan Casillas and he recovered the punt in the end zone for a touchdown. John Stocco finished 9-of-15 for 124 yards and a touchdown, with an interception.

Western Illinois
See also: 2006 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team
Western Illinois vs Wisconsin – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Leathernecks 3 0 0710
Badgers 3 17 01434

at Camp Randall Stadium

  • Date: September 9, 2006
  • Game time: 2:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C); Cloudy; Wind at NE 10-20 MPH
  • Game attendance: 80,845
  • Referee: John O'Neill
  • TV: ESPNU
Game information

P. J. Hill, Jr. ran for over 100 yards for the second game in a row and the Badgers overcame a rocky first quarter to beat the Leathernecks. After a fumble on the kickoff led to a WIU field goal, the Badgers reeled off 34 straight points – 17 in the second quarter – to effectively put the game away. John Stocco was 15–25 for 227 yards and another touchdown and Hill collected three touchdowns on the ground for the Badgers.

San Diego State
See also: 2006 San Diego State Aztecs football team
San Diego State vs Wisconsin – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Aztecs 0 0 000
Badgers 0 0 7714

at Camp Randall Stadium

  • Date: September 16, 2006
  • Game time: 2:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C); Cloudy; Wind at NE 10-20 MPH
  • Game attendance: 81,090
  • Referee: Ron Torbert
  • TV: ESPN+
Game information

P. J. Hill, Jr. ran for 184 yards and a touchdown and the defense shut out the Aztecs in the last game before the start of conference play. The Badgers allowed just 153 yards but the offense was out of sync for the third straight week as Stocco completed just 12 of his 23 passes for 85 yards. Paul Hubbard registered a six-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.

#6 Michigan
See also: 2006 Michigan Wolverines football team
Wisconsin vs Michigan – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Badgers 7 3 0313
No. 6 Wolverines 0 10 71027

at Michigan Stadium

  • Date: September 23, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C); Cloudy; Wind at SW 5-10 MPH
  • Game attendance: 111,058
  • Referee: Dan Capron
  • TV: ESPN
Game information

Wisconsin performed admirably in the first half, scoring 10 points but special teams miscues led to 10 Wolverine points by the break. P. J. Hill, Jr. was held to 54 yards against the stout Michigan run defense and Mario Manningham had 113 yards and two touchdowns through the air as Michigan raced out to 17 straight points in the second half to beat the Badgers, 27–13. The Badgers intercepted Chad Henne three times, but it was not enough to overcome the Wolverines' powerful offense. Wisconsin, which had beaten Michigan in 2005, had a five-game winning streak snapped. Michigan moved to 4–0 on the season.

Indiana
See also: 2006 Indiana Hoosiers football team
Wisconsin vs Indiana – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Badgers 14 21 17052
Hoosiers 0 0 01717

at Memorial Stadium

  • Date: September 30, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C); Sunny; Wind at SW 14 MPH
  • Game attendance: 32,142
  • Referee: Dan Capron
  • TV: ESPN2
Game information

The Badgers bounced back from their first loss of the season, racing out to a 52–0 lead over the hometeam Hoosiers en route to a dominating 52–17 victory. John Stocco threw for 304 yards and had three touchdown strikes by halftime, and P. J. Hill, Jr. had 129 yards and another three touchdowns for the Badgers. The Hoosiers were held to just 147 yards through three quarters. Paul Hubbard caught seven passes for 122 yards and a touchdown for the Badgers.

Northwestern
See also: 2006 Northwestern Wildcats football team
Northwestern vs Wisconsin – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Wildcats 6 3 009
Badgers 10 7 17741

at Camp Randall Stadium

  • Date: October 7, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C); Sunny; Wind at S 10 MPH
  • Game attendance: 81,704
  • Referee: Bill LeMonnier
  • TV: ESPN360
Game information

For the second straight week, the Badger defense stepped up big, holding NU tailback Tyrell Sutton to just 18 yards on the ground. Wisconsin avenged last year's loss to the Wildcats with a punishing ground game, highlighted by P. J. Hill, Jr.'s rumbling 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter. In his best effort to date, Hill piled up 249 of the Badgers' 316 yards on the ground as the Badgers prevailed.

Minnesota
See also: 2006 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team and Paul Bunyan's Axe
Minnesota vs Wisconsin – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Golden Gophers 3 0 2712
No. 25 Badgers 14 14 13748

at Camp Randall Stadium

  • Date: October 14, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 39 °F (4 °C); Partly cloudy; Wind at W 10 MPH
  • Game attendance: 82,010
  • Referee: Dennis Lipski
  • TV: ESPN
Game information

The Badgers hosted Minnesota in the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe. The Badgers, who had moved into the AP rankings for the first time this season, prevailed 48–12 behind John Stocco's four touchdown passes, two to Travis Beckum, who also had 118 receiving yards. Stocco finished 12-of-19 for 193 yards. Jack Ikegwuonu opened the scoring by returning Amir Pinnix's first-quarter fumble 50 yards for a touchdown. P. J. Hill, Jr. racked up 164 yards and two more scores as the Badgers defended the Axe.

Purdue
See also: 2006 Purdue Boilermakers football team
Wisconsin vs Purdue – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
No. 21 Badgers 0 10 7724
Boilermakers 3 0 003

at Ross–Ade Stadium

  • Date: October 21, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C); Partly cloudy; Wind at SW 11 MPH
  • Game attendance: 58,111
  • Referee: John O'Neill
  • TV: ESPN
Game information

The Badgers moved into the Coaches Poll for the first time, ranked #22 going into their showdown against Purdue. The Badger defense figured to get a good test against the Boilermakers offense, which led the Big Ten at over 470 yards a game entering the contest. Purdue managed only 299 yards and a field goal as the Badgers limited Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter to just 187 yards on 20-of-40 passing and an interception. P. J. Hill, Jr. ran for another two touchdowns and 161 yards.

Illinois
See also: 2006 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
Illinois vs Wisconsin – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Fighting Illini 7 17 0024
No. 17 Badgers 0 10 101030

at Camp Randall Stadium

  • Date: October 28, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C); Sunny; Wind at W 10 MPH
  • Game attendance: 81,300
  • Referee: Todd Geerlings
  • TV: ESPN2
Game information

The visiting Illini gave the #18 Badgers a scare, as Illinois quarterback Juice Williams engineered three scoring drives in the second quarter to give the Illini a 24–10 lead at halftime. P. J. Hill, Jr. suffered a pinched nerve and left the game in the first quarter. Backup Lance Smith scored the Badgers' only touchdown of the first half. John Stocco threw for two touchdowns and Taylor Mehlhaff kicked two field goals in the second half, and the defense held Illinois scoreless throughout the second half to prevail victorious, 30–24.

Penn State
See also: 2006 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
Penn State vs Wisconsin – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Nittany Lions 0 3 003
No. 17 Badgers 3 7 3013

at Camp Randall Stadium

  • Date: November 4, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C); Cloudy; Wind at S 12 MPH
  • Game attendance: 81,777
  • Referee: Dave Witvoet
  • TV: ABC
Game information

The Badger defense stepped up in a huge way against Penn State, yielding only a field goal and 244 yards. Consistent pressure frustrated Nittany Lions quarterback Anthony Morelli, and the offense controlled the clock with 148 yards from P. J. Hill, Jr.. The Badgers won 13–3 to move to 9–1 on the season and their sixth straight victory. John Stocco suffered a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter.

This game drew the ire of Penn State head coach Joe Paterno as the first half came to a close. Under the clock rules introduced at the beginning of the season, the clock began running immediately as the ball was kicked, rather than when it was fielded by the receiving team. Following a Stocco touchdown that gave the Badgers a 10–3 lead with 23 seconds to go, Coach Bielema deliberately ordered his kickoff unit to run offsides before Taylor Mehlhaff kicked off. Because the Badgers were offsides (and thus further downfield), the Penn State special teams were unable to field the ball well, and thus would have had awful field position; they instead elected to rekick. Wisconsin repeated the tactic, essentially running out the clock on the first half. Bielema's strategy was decried by many as unsportsmanlike; others praised him for bringing light to a loophole in the new clock system. After the regular season, the clock rules were reverted to their pre-2006 form.

Iowa
See also: 2006 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and Heartland Trophy
Wisconsin vs Iowa – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
No. 16 Badgers 10 7 0724
Hawkeyes 0 14 0721

at Kinnick Stadium

  • Date: November 11, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C); Cloudy; Wind at N 7 MPH
  • Game attendance: 70,585
  • Referee: Bill LeMonnier
  • TV: ESPN
Game information

After moving up to #16 in the coaches poll, Wisconsin ended a two-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes with a 24–21 victory in Iowa City. With John Stocco sitting out due to injury, backup Tyler Donovan played an efficient game, going 17-of-24 for 228 yards and two touchdowns. Hawkeyes quarterback Drew Tate threw for Iowa's three touchdowns but was frustrated all game, completing fewer than a third of his attempts. With the win, the Badgers completed conference play with a 7–1 mark, wrapping up a second place tie in the Big Ten.

Buffalo
See also: 2006 Buffalo Bulls football team
Bulls vs Badgers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bulls 3 0 003
No. 12 Badgers 7 14 7735

at Camp Randall Stadium

  • Date: November 18, 2006
  • Game time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Game weather: 37 °F (3 °C); Cloudy; Wind at N 7 MPH
  • Game attendance: 80,850
  • Referee: Steve Newman
  • TV: ESPNU
Game information

On Senior Day, the #10 Badgers started sluggishly, but scored two touchdowns just before halftime and added two more in the second half to win decisively over Buffalo, 35–3. Tyler Donovan once again performed proficiently, throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns with an interception on 16-of-26, and the defense forced four turnovers and held Buffalo to just 159 yards. P. J. Hill, Jr. scored a touchdown and picked up 86 yards on the ground.

With the win, the Badgers finished 11–1, the best regular season in school history. There was a minor controversy concerning the Bowl Championship Series, whose rules state that only two teams from one conference may receive bids to BCS bowl games. Ohio State and Michigan were ranked ahead of the Badgers in the final BCS standings, granting those two schools BCS invitations and relegating the Badgers to a lesser bowl. Nevertheless, Wisconsin again accepted an invitation to the Capital One Bowl, where it would defend its championship against Arkansas.

Capital One Bowl – Arkansas
1 2 3 4 Total
#13 Arkansas 7 0 0 7 14
#5 Wisconsin 10 7 0 0 17

The Badgers returned to Orlando to face the #13 Razorbacks, led by Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden. McFadden burst for 45 yards on his first carry but was brought down from behind by Jack Ikegwuonu at the 9-yard line, a pivotal play that led to a missed field goal by Arkansas. The Badgers led 17–7 at halftime behind John Stocco's two touchdown passes, and eventually survived a nailbiting second half in which the Razorbacks continually had great field position but failed to capitalize. Despite being held to -5 rushing yards while giving up 232, including 150 from Arkansas' Felix Jones, the Badgers won 17–14. John Stocco, playing in his final collegiate game, was named the game's MVP.

The Badgers finished the season on a nine-game winning streak to reach #5 in the final coaches poll and #7 in the final AP poll. The 12 wins were a new single season record.

See also: 2006 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

Regular starters

Team players selected in the 2007 NFL Draft
See also: 2007 NFL Draft
PlayerPositionRoundOverall SelectionNFL Team
Joe ThomasOffensive Tackle13Cleveland Browns

[3]

References
  1. Hernandez, Rob (September 2, 2006). "Badgering UW's Non-Conference Schedule". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison. Retrieved September 2, 2006.
  2. "Game-by-Game Statistics". University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  3. "2007 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on March 11, 2008.
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