(photo courtesy Ken Coppens/MadTown Badgers)
A blustery, cold, and damp day held the Badger faithful crowd to low numbers, but those that were in attendance for the annual spring game were treated to a lot of defense, inconsistent at best play from the wide receiver group, and a heavy dose of running back Melvin Gordon.
He clearly was the star of the game offensively. He had 159 yards rushing on 30 carries (5.3 avg) and 1TD to lead the Cardinal to a 21-10 win over the White in the annual spring game.
“(Running backs coach) Thomas (Hammock) and myself both wanted to see Melvin grind it out,” said Head Coach Bret Bielema. “That’s one of the things he hasn’t had to do and that’s something I was happy to see today. He almost got stronger as the day went on, in my opinion. I was really excited to see him handle this whole game,”
Defensively the Cardinal group of Ethan Hemer, Pat Muldoon, Beau Allen, and Brendan Kelly simply over-matched the backup group of offensive linemen and at one point had three straight massive pressures on Brennan, but only Allen’s actually counted as a sack since their was no-contact allowed on the QB’s.
After the starting frount four linebacker Jake Keefer really stood out as he recorded 6 tackles (2nd on the team) and also 1 tackle-for-loss.
As for the game itself, the first quarter of action was really all about the running backs. Melvin Gordon broke off a few long ones and led the Cardinal to first downs. His long run of the day, 27 yards, set up the only score in the quarter. The Cardinal went up 7-0 on a pass from Joel Stave to Chase Hammond. Hammond did a great job of fighting after the catch to stretch out for the TD. The scoring drive was typical Wisconsin in it’s 10 play, 63 yard, 5:38 fashion.
It was clear from the get go that Stave was separating himself from Joe Brennan and the day bore that out. Stave finished 14-25 for 135 yards with 1TD and 1INT. Brennan went 0-for-the 1st quarter on his way to a 2-11 day. He had just 24 yards and didn’t throw a touchdown or a pick.
In the second frame of action there wasn’t much more to report than the defense dominating play, until a time eating drive that began around the 6 minute mark of the quarter. That drive ended in a Melvin Gordon TD, but was highlighted by a great catch by Kenzel Doe deep over the middle for 26 yards from Stave. After that we saw a lot of Gordon, who punched it in from the two yard line to make the score 17-6.
After another White drive that went no where the Cardinal had an opportunity to drive again, but three drops and a nice knock down on defense saw them stall out around midfield. The score remained 17-6 as they headed to the half.
Coming out of the half the third quarter saw little action of note, other than a nice sideline throw from Joel Stave to Isiah Williams.
The highlight of the 2nd half actually happened in between the 3rd and 4th quarters during the “rapid kicking” session. Kicker Kyle French went 5 of 6 in the period, hitting all but his final attempt from 57 yards out in the period. From there on the game provided little in the way of excitement of the offensive variety. In fact the final score of 21-10 stood after the kicking session.
Check back with us tomorrow for more in-depth analysis of each side of the ball.
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