Wisconsin wants to be stereotyped.

It knows it is not big on sun, sizzle or style.

“Definitely not sexy,” Scott Tolzien said.

Before you start e-mailing pictures of The Dells, wheels of cheese or trophy musky, remember were talking about Wisconsin . Lets just say the program fits the profile of the state.

Ask Tolzien, the Badgers quarterback.

“When [you] hear Wisconsin football, I would say first of all toughness, discipline and winning the turnover battle.”

Throw in five nine-win seasons since 2004, six January bowls since 1998 and 15 1,000-yard rushers in the last 17 years and you get a better idea of that stereotype.

“We get guys out of our state that are giants,” said Badgers patron coaching saint Barry Alvarez, who doubles as AD.

Offensive linemen, defensive linemen, tailbacks. Doesnt matter. While the likes of Purdue rose and fell in the Big Ten with a spread offense, Wisconsin hasnt deviated from the philosophy established firmly by Alvarez in 1990 when he arrived from Notre Dame.

“To come in here and think that were going to have a truckload of skill players is just not right,” Alvarez said of his early years. “I looked at the type of players we could consistently get at Wisconsin.

“We said, Lets make sure we keep them at home. Lets build our program around linemen. Lets be physical. We may not be able to get all the skill players in the world but we can probably find hard-nosed running back Brent Moss, Terrell Fletcher, Ron Dayne, Anthony Davis and currently the reigning Big Ten offensive player of the year, redshirt junior John Clay.

Wisconsin may not be dominating the Big Ten. It one of those beating it up, in both revenue sports. Thats what helps land the Badgers on this list. Alvarez has transitioned nicely to AD where he also oversees a basketball program that has been to 12 consecutive NCAA tournaments. Bo Ryan has won at least a share of three Big Ten regular-season titles.

Thats what they keep talking about in Madison. Battles, fights, knockout blows. Moss was a highly recruited in-state guy of the Alvarez era with almost 1,700 yards in 1993. Alvarez says to this day if he had 1 yard to pick up, the ball would go to Moss. The kids college career ended tragically when he was busted for possessing crack cocaine as a senior. Moss kicked around the NFL for a few years and most recently was coach of the semi-pro Racine Threat before being let go. A year ago Alvarez received a letter from his first 1,000-yard back “apologizing to me for some of his actions.”

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Fletcher was the home-run hitter following with 1,476 yards in 94. Dayne the offense for four years beginning in 1996, establishing the all-time career rushing record.

“We were like a wishbone team,” Alvarez said. “Wed get the ball and hang onto it for a long time. You better do something defensively or you werent going to get the ball until the next quarter.”

The stereotype worked. From 1993-1999, Wisconsin went to the Rose Bowl three times. Now its going on a decade without a return trip to Pasadena.

“When I took this job, we had about three weeks before signing day,” Alvarez recalled. “We started from scratch, we hustled. We signed a group of guys who took us to the Rose Bowl.

“Everybody wants to go to the Rose Bowl. Everybody wants to play in a BCS game. For a while there it was, “Heck, were going back to the Rose Bowl again.”

Spoiled? No, not spoiled. Just anxious. Wisconsin beat Ohio State three times in the last decade but finished ahead of the Buckeyes only once. Bret Bielema was Alvarezs hand-picked successor in 2006. The Badgers immediately won 17 of their first 18 games under Bielema, the former defensive coordinator. A downturn to 7-6 in 2008 was followed by a 10-win season last year. A 20-14 win over Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl hinted at some of that old physicality. The Hurricanes got manhandled.

It didnt look that way in the second game of Alvarezs second season in 1991. At that point, he was 2-10 as Wisconsins coach, playing an Iowa State program that was at the beginning of a stretch of 10 consecutive losing seasons.

In one of the worst displays of football, ever, Wisconsin won 7-6.

“We didnt know how to win,” Alvarez said, “but you could see they would compete and they were never intimidated.”

Enter Tolzien, a senior from Chicagos northwest suburbs. If there were ever a guy who couldnt be intimidated … Tolzien wants a Rose Bowl too. It was a family tradition to gather round the TV on Jan. 1 to watch the San Gabriels frame the Granddaddy.

“Theyd [Big Ten] always get out there and kick butt,” Tolzien said.

Not lately. In fact, Ohio States win over Oregon in January was the Big Tens first in the Rose Bowl since 2000 when Wisconsin beat Stanford. Tolzien gets all that Wisconsin tradition. A year ago he headed into fall drills a distant third on the depth chart. The hardest hit of his career came in the opener against Northern Illinois.

“They sent a corner blitz, front side, but I was looking to my left,” Tolzien said. “The guy got me pretty good … I spent three years on the sidelines wishing I would get hit and wishing I was sore.”

Tolzien got up, beat NIU and nine other teams while completing a school-record 211 passes. Add in Clays 1,517 yards and the stereotype lives for the future.

“You see how frustrating it is on a defense, when youre just eating up the clock,” Tolzien said. “Its cool when the defense knows were running the ball and 80,000 in the stands know were running the ball and we still get 4 or 5 yards.”

Definitely not sexy, just perfect for Wisconsin.

Posted on July 27th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: College football news, NCAA college football