|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Building the Badgers Alvarez faces challenge as Wisconsin reloads
If you're the head coach at a major college football program, every spring is different. There are years when you're coming off a Rose Bowl, and there are years when you're coming off 5-6. There are years when you only have to replace a lineman here, a cornerback there. And then there are years like this one for Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez, when you've lost your top running back to the NFL (plus his likely replacement to injury), your two-time All-American cornerback, your star receiver, three four-year starters on the offensive line and three starting defensive linemen. When, all told, nearly half of last year's lettermen (27 of 60) have moved on. Fortunately, if you're Alvarez, you've manned the ship for going-on-12 seasons, and there's almost no situation you haven't seen before. "This is very similar to a season we had four years ago, when our guys who are now getting drafted were freshman," said Alvarez. "We had eight or nine freshmen or redshirt freshmen who were starters for us. "It was the year [1997] we played in the Outback Bowl. The next two years, we won the league."
In the eight seasons since Alvarez took the Badgers to their first Rose Bowl in 31 years, he has maintained one of the most consistent programs in football. Wisconsin, alongside powerhouses like Florida State, Tennessee and Nebraska, is one of 12 schools to play in at least seven bowls since 1993, and one of only seven to win at least 30 games the last three years. As Alvarez went about plugging freshmen and sophomores into the rotation this spring, he got to build around several remaining fixtures from those recent teams. Brooks Bollinger was a freshman when he quarterbacked the Badgers to Pasadena two seasons ago. Reigning All-Big Ten DE Wendell Bryant has started 25 games. And Mike Echols, often overshadowed by counterpart Jamar Fletcher, will be a fourth-year starter. "It's a unique blend of good experience and the enthusiasm of the new people," said Alvarez, "and quite frankly, I like coaching teams like these." Alvarez is particularly excited about his quarterbacks. A program that won Rose Bowls with the average-to-adequate Darrell Bevell and Mike Samuel now has two athletic, experienced QBs in Bollinger (2,612 yards, 18 TDs, 9 INTs) and Jim Sorgi, a backup who led the Badgers to consecutive comeback victories last year when Bollinger was hurt. It's because of the skill at quarterback that Wisconsin -- recently the poster program for traditional power football -- will be adding some shotgun and multiple-receiver sets to the equation this fall after successfully experimenting with the spread at last December's Sun Bowl. "What this does is it makes us more diverse, more difficult to prepare for as a defense," said Alvarez. "We're not going to try to put all of the onus of carrying the ball on the tailback. Brooks can run with the ball as well as throw the ball well. And Jim Sorgi is a guy who's deceptively fast." The notion of taking pressure of the tailbacks is no small burden. After five years of blissful stability in the backfield with Heisman winner Ron Dayne and Minnesota Vikings draftee Michael Bennett, the Badgers are running tailback-by-committee. The most likely successor, Broderick Williams, went down with an ACL tear early in the spring. The three remaining options are redshirt freshmen with contrasting styles: Anthony Davis, said Alvarez, is the speedy scatback. Jerone Pettus is the wiggler who makes you miss. And Tyron Griffin is the 235-pound bruiser. Alvarez declined to name a starter following Saturday's spring game, in which Griffin ran for 100 yards and a touchdown, Pettus 88 and two scores and Davis, on just six carries, 69 yards and two TDs. Conceivably, he could narrow it down to one dangerous tandem, a la the '93 Rose Bowl squad's Brent Moss and Terrell Fletcher. As always, Wisconsin should be sound defensively. Rising stars Jake Sprague and Darius Jones join the anchor Bryant up front. And inside linebacker Nick Greisen led the league in tackles last year. But if the Badgers are going to spend yet another Christmas in the sun, the most important factor might not be tackles or rushing yards. It will be chemistry. One need look no farther than to last year's midseason three-game losing streak, which came on the heels of the ugly shoe-discount scandal that forced UW to constantly shuffle its lineup to balance suspensions. As the team went through offseason conditioning drills this winter -- the large mass of seniors and NFL defectors noticeably absent -- emphasis for the remaining underclassmen was as much on bonding as it was on lifting. "I think when you lose guys like that and you have a lot of young guys, it's important [new leaders] emerge quick," said Bollinger. "In a game like football it's hard to pick one guy you'll miss the most when there are so many, but that's the way college sports go. It's time for some of the young guys to step up and play a bigger role."
Tale of two quarterbacksAs if you needed any further proof that the NFL scouting process contains all the logic of a fly, take this case of two longtime rival quarterbacks and recent draftees. As a four-year starter at Georgia Tech, tiny but talented Joe Hamilton broke all school passing records and set the ACC mark for total offense. He finished second in the 1999 Heisman Trophy voting, led Tech to consecutive New Year's Day bowls -- and was nearly passed over on Draft Day, going in the 2000 seventh round to Tampa Bay. Quincy Carter put up comparable numbers his first two years at Georgia. But after a five-interception day in the second game of 2000, Carter's confidence and season unraveled, ultimately ending his season four games early with a thumb injury. Despite finishing his career 2-8 against his four biggest rivals, Carter bypassed his senior year to enter the draft -- and the Dallas Cowboys swooped him up in the second round. Incidentally, Hamilton won both head-to-head battles in college.
Worth notingThe BCS' new rule guaranteeing Nos. 3-4 an at-large bid is a nice gesture, but it still doesn't mean a deserving team won't get shafted. Oregon State, 11-1 last year, was No. 6 going into the bowls and it nearly took a power play by the Pac-10 to get the small-market Beavers included. ... Junior college transfer Seneca Wallace has emerged as Iowa State's No. 1 quarterback. In the Cyclones' spring game, the versatile Wallace completed 7 of 11 throws for 124 yards while running seven times for 72. ... In an effort to shore up its porous defense, Northwestern this spring experimented with a 3-4 look, as well as playing second-team All-Big Ten LB Napoleon Harris at defensive end. The Wildcats, of course, have no such problems on offense, where WR Sam Simmons caught 10 balls for 162 yards and RB Kevin Lawrence had 19 carries for 114 yards in Saturday's spring game. (All-American Damien Anderson sat out). ... Five rushers combined for 274 yards at North Carolina's spring game, with sophomore Willie Parker (14 carries, 119 yards) leading the way. CNNSI.com's Stewart Mandel will offer his latest Offseason Beat notes regularly from now till Kickoff 2001. If you have questions, comments, ideas or scoops for the Beat, click here.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
