INSIDE SLANT

Wisconsin’s coaching staff never will allow its players to treat next week’s trip to Hawaii as a vacation. But the truth of the matter? The Badgers’ performance on Dec. 5 on the big island shouldn’t matter when it comes to their bowl destination.

Technically, of course, it could matter.

Wisconsin could improve its record to 9-3 with a late-night win over the Warriors. That would put the Badgers within the Big Ten’s “one win” bowl rules and allow the Capital One Bowl to forsake Iowa (10-2) or Penn State (10-2) in favor of Bret Bielema’s guys. But since that’s not going to happen, Wisconsin finds itself competing with Northwestern (8-4) for the next-best bowl (Outback) and it won’t make a difference whether the Badgers are 9-3 or 8-4 when the Outback committee votes.

Most Wisconsin folks assume the Outback will call the Badgers’ name, which means UW will play a bowl in Florida for the sixth year in a row—and play at Tampa, Fla., for the third time in six years. The only way Wisconsin doesn’t play in Florida is if the Big Ten fails to get two teams into the Bowl Championship Series. If that’s the case, then the Champs Sports Bowl will choose between the Badgers and Northwestern. Considering UW just played at the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando—and Northwestern just played at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio—look for those two bowls to cooperate and send NU to Champs and UW to San Antonio.

Wisconsin’s final regular-season opponent should be a valuable learning tool for its defense. The Badgers’ last three opponents combined to throw for 881 yards and eight touchdowns—capped by Northwestern’s 364-yard, three-TD, no-INT performance on Saturday.

Hawaii, as always, ranks among the nation’s leaders in passing offense. The Rainbow Warriors have used three quarterbacks this year—the latest being sophomore Shane Austin—but they rank third in passing yards (347.1 yards per game) with 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. All of those picks are a good sign for the Badgers, who own 13 interceptions this year, but it’s telling that UW placed just one player on the all-Big Ten defensive units.

Wisconsin did pick up half of the conference’s “Of The Year” honors. Sophomore tailback John Clay became the first Badger since Ron Dayne (1999) to win the Offensive Player of the Year award. True freshman linebacker Chris Borland, who also starred on special teams, became the first Badger since Brooks Bollinger (1999) to win the Freshman of the Year award.

NOTES, QUOTES

• Sophomore TB John Clay was named by the coaches and the media as the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year. In a year without a dominant quarterback in the league, Clay became a clear choice as he leads the league in rushing yards (1,224) and touchdowns (13) with one regular-season game to play. He owns a 120-yard lead on Penn State’s Evan Royster and a two-touchdown edge over Purdue’s Ralph Bolden.

• Clay led a quintet of Badgers on the all-Big Ten teams. Junior guard John Moffitt, despite missing the first three games, made the first team as did senior defensive end O’Brien Schofield. Junior left tackle Gabe Carimi and senior tight end Garrett Graham earned spots on the second team according to the coaches, but the media elevated Carimi and Graham to the first team. Freshman linebacker/special teams ace Chris Borland picked up Freshman of the Year honors from the coaches as well as the media.

Next Game:   Dec. 5 at Hawaii. In years past, Big Ten teams have wrapped up their seasons on the Big Island and not exactly felt like they received a fair shake from the referees. That shouldn’t be a consideration this year, but the Badgers should know Hawaii (5-6 going into Saturday’s game against Navy) might need to beat them in order to qualify for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

This Week  ‘S MISSION: With Thanksgiving providing a natural schedule to follow, the Badgers practiced Tuesday and Wednesday before taking Thursday and Friday off. They’ll begin preparation for Hawaii on Saturday and Sunday, then resume their usual game-week schedule on Tuesday.

December At A Glance:   Wisconsin wraps up its elongated regular season with a Dec. 5 game at Hawaii that figures to be the nation’s final Football Bowl Subdivision regular season game of the year. The Badgers will hustle back from Hawaii, wrap up their final week of regular classes and then take their final exams while mixing in bowl practices.

Quote To Note:   “It is an honor to be in that category. I couldn’t do it without my offensive line. They helped me this whole year.”—Wisconsin tailback John Clay discussing in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel how he’s the Big Ten’s first sophomore to be named Offensive Player of the Year since 1998 (when Purdue QB Drew Brees won the honor).

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Looking Good:   Wisconsin led the Big Ten in scoring (conference games only) with 29.5 points per game, but they narrowly missed on becoming the first Badgers team since 1950 to lead the league in rushing offense and rushing defense. Wisconsin led in both categories most of the way, but its 99-yard rushing effort in last week’s finale at Northwestern lost the rushing crown. Ohio State averaged 198.6 rushing yards per game while the Badgers had 197.6.

On the plus side, the Badgers kept their rush defense crown (72.0 ypg) as they didn’t allow a single Big Ten foe to rush for 100 yards. That’s an impressive feat for a front seven that worked in three new starters on the defensive line and two inexperienced linebackers.

Still Needs Work:   Opponents have begun to exploit Wisconsin’s secondary, which apparently plays a little too aggressively for its own good. In last week’s Big Ten finale, for example, Northwestern threw for 364 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. The Wildcats felt the Badgers flowed too hard to the line of scrimmage and made them pay with a 38-yard touchdown pass by wide receiver Zeke Markshausen. Sidney Stewart, the touchdown recipient, flew past the corner and safety without a second glance.

Star Watch:   Sophomore tailback John Clay earned Big Ten offensive player of the year honors from both the coaches and the writers. Clay already has the league’s rushing title (1,224 yards) and TDs crown (13) with the Hawaii game to go. Senior defensive end O’Brien Schofield shares third place in the nation with his 1.86 tackles for loss per game (19.5 overall), so he was in the discussion for Big Ten defensive player of the year before settling for first-team all-league honors.

Critical Decision:   Wisconsin’s coaching staff looks like it made the right call when it gave the starting quarterback job to redshirt junior Scottt Tolzien despite his limited experience—and the coaches resisted the urge to go to redshirt freshman Curt Phillips when Tolzien struggled at midseason in the losses to Ohio State and Iowa. Tolzien goes into the Hawaii game as the league’s No. 4 quarterback in terms of efficiency (139.3 rating) He’s third in completion percentage (62.4) and he tossed just 10 interceptions in 282 attempts. That’s the type of game-management the coaches wanted when they anointed Tolzien.

Roster Report:  

• RT Josh Oglesby (knee) missed the last two Big Ten games. It’s uncertain if he’ll be ready to go for Hawaii—or if he’ll have to wait until the bowl game. Jake Bscherer has done a solid job in Oglesby’s absence.

• OLB Mike Taylor missed the last half of the year with a torn ACL in his right knee. He might not return to the field until fall drills.