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2008 Wisconsin Badgers football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
2008 record7–6 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coachBret Bielema (3rd season)
Offensive coordinatorPaul Chryst
Offensive schemePro Style
Defensive coordinatorDave Doeren
Base defense4-3
Home stadiumCamp Randall Stadium (80,321, Field Turf)
Seasons
← 2007
2009 →
2008 Big Ten football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#8/8 Penn State §   0* 1         0* 2  
#9/11 Ohio State §   7 1         10 3  
#24/24 Michigan State   6 2         9 4  
Northwestern   5 3         9 4  
#20/20 Iowa   5 3         9 4  
Wisconsin   3 5         7 6  
Minnesota   3 5         7 6  
Illinois   3 5         5 7  
Purdue   2 6         4 8  
Michigan   2 6         3 9  
Indiana   1 7         3 9  
† – BCS representative as champion
‡ – BCS at-large representative
§ – Conference co-champions

The 2008 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Badgers were coached by Bret Bielema and played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

Previous season[]

The 2007 Wisconsin Badgers football team was not expected to win the Big 10, but with a close loss to Illinois and a 38-7 blowout loss to Penn State, expectations were much lower. However, they finished with only one more loss to Big 10 champ Ohio State and managed to get an Outback Bowl bid, only to lose 21-17 to the Tennessee Volunteers, who lost the previous Outback Bowl 20-10 to the Nittany Lions.

Roster[]

(as of August 12, 2008)[1]
Quarterback
Wide Receiver
Offensive Lineman
 

Fullback

Running Back
Tight End
 
Defensive Lineman
Linebacker
 
Defensive Back
  • Niles Brinkley - Redshirt Sophomore
  • Shane Carter - Redshirt Junior
  • Kevin Claxton - Freshman
  • Marcus Cromartie - Freshman
  • Antonio Fenelus - Freshman
  • Mario Goins - Redshirt Freshman
  • Adam Hampton - Redshirt Freshman
  • William Hartmann - Redshirt Junior
  • Aaron Henry - Sophomore
  • Shelton Johnson - Freshman
  • Allen Langford - Redshirt Senior
  • Andrew Lukasko - Redshirt Freshman
  • Chris Maragos - Redshirt Junior
  • Otis Merrill - Redshirt Freshman
  • Prince Moody - Redshirt Junior
  • Josh Nettles - Junior
  • Chukwuma Offor - Redshirt Freshman
  • Aubrey Pleasant - Redshirt Junior
  • Devin Smith - Freshman
Long Snapper
Punter
Place Kicker

Schedule[]

[2]

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
August 30* 11:00 a.m.[3] Akron #12 Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI BTN[3] W 38–17   80,910[4]
September 6* 11:00 AM[3] Marshall #11 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI BTN[3] W 51–14   80,396[4]
September 13* 9:30 PM[5] at #21 Fresno State #10 Bulldog StadiumFresno, CA ESPN2[5] W 13–10   42,387[4]
September 27 2:30 PM at Michigan #8 Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI ABC L 25–27   109,833[4]
October 4 7:00 PM[6] #12 Ohio State #17 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI ABC[6] L 17–20   81,608[4]
October 11 7:00 p.m.[6] #6 Penn State #24 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI ESPN[6] L 7–48   81,524[4]
October 18 11:00 AM at Iowa Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (Battle for the Heartland Trophy) BTN L 16–38   70,585[4]
October 25† 11:00 AM[7] Illinois Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI ESPN2[7] W 27–17   81,241[4]
November 1 11:00 AM at #21 Michigan State Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI ESPN L 24–25   75,121[4]
November 8 11:00 AM at Indiana Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN BTN W 55–20   30,618[4]
November 15 2:30 PM Minnesota Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI (Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe) ABC W 35–32   81,228[4]
November 22* 2:30 PM Cal Poly Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI BTN W 36–35 OT  80,709[4]
December 27* 3:30 PM vs. Florida State Citrus BowlOrlando, FL (Champs Sports Bowl) ESPN L 13–42   52,692[4]
*Non-Conference Game. Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches Poll. All times are in Central Time Zone.

Game notes[]

Akron[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Zips 0 10 0 7 17
Badgers 14 3 14 7 38





Marshall[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Thundering Herd 7 7 0 0 14
Badgers 0 17 21 13 51





Fresno State[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Badgers 7 3 3 0 13
Bulldogs 0 0 10 0 10





Michigan[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Badgers 6 13 0 6 25
Wolverines 0 0 7 20 27





Ohio State[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Buckeyes 7 0 3 10 20
Badgers 0 10 0 7 17





Penn State[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Nittany Lions 3 21 17 7 48
Badgers 0 7 0 0 7





Iowa[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Badgers 0 3 6 7 16
Hawkeyes 7 7 14 10 38





Illinois[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Fighting Illini 0 10 7 0 17
Badgers 3 7 7 10 27





Michigan State[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Badgers 7 3 7 7 24
Spartans 0 6 7 12 25





Indiana[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Badgers 14 10 17 14 55
Hoosiers 13 7 0 0 20





Minnesota[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Minnesota 0 21 3 8 32
Wisconsin 7 0 10 18 35
  • Date: November 15
  • Location: Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, Wisconsin

[8]


Cal Poly[]

1 2 3 4 OT
Mustangs 7 13 3 6 35
Badgers 0 14 7 8 36





Rankings[]

Ranking Movement
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Final
AP 13 11 10 8 9 18
Coaches 12 11 10 8 8 17 24
Harris Not released 16
BCS Not released

Statistics[]

Offense[]

Passing[]

Name GP-GS Year Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Avg/G
Allan Evridge 6-6 Sr (R) 132-71-5 53.8% 949 5 126.3
Dustin Sherer 11-7 Jr (R) 191-104-5 54.5% 1389 6 158.2
Scott Tolzien 3-0 So (R) 5-8-1 62.5% 107 0 35.7
Total 13-13 N/A 333-180-11 54.1% 2445 11 188.2
Opponents 13-13 N/A 404-212-12 52.5% 2545 15 195.8

Rushing[]

Name Att Yards Avg Long TD
P.J. Hill 226 1161 5.1 13
John Clay 155 844 5.7 46 9
Zach Brown 55 305 5.5 23 3
David Gilreath 25 285 11.4 90 (TD) 2
Bill Rentmeester 11 50 4.5 9 0
Isaac Anderson 3 21 7.0 19 0
Dustin Sherer 49 19 0.4 30 1
Bradie Ewing 4 14 3.5 8 1
Scott Tolzien 4 13 3.3 8 1
Chris Pressley 3 6 2.0 3 0
Allan Evridge 23 4 0.2 19 1
Total 567 2,745 4.8 90 31
Opponents 450 1,733 3.8   23

Receiving[]

Name GP No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
Garrett Graham 11 40 540 13.5 5   49.1
David Gilreath 13 31 520 16.7 3   40.0
Isaac Anderson 13 21 286 13.6 0   22.0
Travis Beckum 6 23 264 11.4 0   44.0
Nick Toon 12 17 257 15.1 1   21.4
Kyle Jefferson 11 14 189 13.5 0   17.2
Lance Kendricks 7 6 141 23.5 0   20.1
P.J. Hill 13 7 72 10.3 0   5.5
Maurice Moore 6 5 61 12.2 0   10.2
Zach Brown 12 8 47 5.9 0   3.9
Mickey Turner 13 4 46 11.5 0   3.5
Elijah Theus 5 2 17 8.5 1   3.4

Season Summary[]

Wisconsin once again got off to a fast start at 3-0. However, a horrible loss to Michigan and awful games against Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa derailed the Badgers and sent them plunging down to 3-4 overall. An upset over ranked Illinois at home evened Wisconsin's record at 4-4, but an awful loss to Michigan State followed and the Badgers fell to 1-5 in the Big Ten almost before they could blink. Wisconsin won the remainder of its conference slate against Indiana and Minnesota, but the Badgers followed that up with a decidedly below average effort and wild win over Cal Poly the next week. At the end of the season, Wisconsin was destroyed 42-13 in the 2008 Champs Sports Bowl by Florida State.

Overall, this was the worst Wisconsin team since the 2001 Badgers, who missed the postseason entirely after a 5-7 season. The failure of the team to live up to lofty expectations (Wisconsin was ranked 8th in the nation before a terrible loss to Michigan) fueled fan discontent, and Bret Bielema would need a much, much better 2009 season; he could not afford to coast on goodwill from his 2006 and 2007 teams.

Regular starters[]

Position Player
Quarterback Dustin Sherer
Running Back P.J. Hill
Fullback Chris Pressley
Wide Receiver Isaac Anderson
Wide Receiver David Gilreath
Tight End Garrett Graham
Left Tackle Gabe Carimi
Left Guard Andy Kemp
Center John Moffitt
Right Guard Kraig Urbik
Right Tackle Eric Vanden Heuvel
Kicker Philip Welch
Position Player
Defensive End O'Brien Schofield
Defensive Tackle Jason Chapman
Defensive Tackle Mike Newkirk
Defensive End Matt Shaughnessy
Outside Linebacker DeAndre Levy
Middle Linebacker Jaevery McFadden
Outside Linebacker Jonathan Casillas
Cornerback Allen Langford
Strong Safety Jay Valai
Free Safety Shane Carter
Cornerback Niles Brinkley
Punter Brad Nortman

Team players selected in the 2009 NFL Draft[]

Player Position Round Overall Selection NFL Team
Matt Shaughnessy Defensive End 3 71 Oakland Raiders
DeAndre Levy Linebacker 3 76 Detroit Lions
Kraig Urbik Guard 3 79 Pittsburgh Steelers
Travis Beckum Tight End 3 100 New York Giants

[9]

References[]

  1. "Football Roster". University of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080615153815/http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/bios/roster.html?sportid=111. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
  2. 2008 Schedule
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Badgers open the season on BTN". Wisconsin Athletic Communications. July 2, 2008. http://uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=14325. Retrieved July 2, 2008.[dead link]
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 "Game-by-Game Statistics". University of Wisconsin-Madison. http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2007-2008/teamgbg.html. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "More night ball for Badgers". Wisconsin Athletic Communications. May 31, 2008. http://uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=14058. Retrieved May 31, 2008.[dead link]
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Big Ten Announces Five Prime-Time Football Games to Appear on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 During 2008 Season". Big Ten Conference. 2008-04-16. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080420065807/http://bigten.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/041608aaa.html. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Welcome home:Badgers, Illini kickoff set". Wisconsin Badgers Sports Report. May 10, 2008. http://uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=13946. Retrieved May 11, 2008.[dead link]
  8. ESPN
  9. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/2009.htm
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