If the Outback Bowl was a duel between all-American defensive
linemen David Pollack of Georgia and Erasmus James of Wisconsin, Pollack
got
the better of the deal. Pollack was chosen as the game's Most Valuable
Player
while James was largely absent.
James, the Big Ten's defensive player of the year, made just two
tackles,
one in each half. He "hurried" one David Greene pass, but was
ineffective as a
rusher otherwise. It was also James whom Greene drew offsides with a
hard
count on the game's first play. Greene converted that opportunity into a
31-yard
pass play to Leonard Pope. James was flagged for offsides later in the
game as
well.
"I thought their tackles blocked our guys pretty well,"
Wisconsin coach
Barry Alvarez said. "I don't want to judge how Erasmus played, but that
wasn't one
of our better defensive performances."
Loyal to his teammates, Wisconsin offensive tackle Morgan Davis thought
Pollack's credentials were overblown.
"Pollack today, he wasn't much compared to (James), I'll tell you
that
much," Davis said. "We were the better team out there today. Erasmus,
he's been
great all year he deserves some of those awards. That's all I got to
say."
LOSING STREAK: After opening the season with a nine-game winning streak
and
rising as high as fifth in national polls, Wisconsin closed the season
with
consecutive losses to Michigan State, Iowa and now Georgia. Still,
Alvarez was
somewhat upbeat after the Outback Bowl loss.
"I think we overachieved this season," he said. "We won
nine games,
found a
way to win nine games. You always want to win but you have to be
realistic in
the same respect. So I do not consider it a disappointing year.
Sometimes you
get frustrated because you think you can always play better, but that's
how I
look at it."
James, a senior, would have liked to get a double-digit win total.
"We really wanted to show the younger guys you can't dwell on those
two
losses," James said. "You have to fight hard and come back and get
that
10th win,
we didn't get it. I think they still got the idea you have to go out and
participate as hard as you can."
AFTER FURTHER REVIEW: The Big Ten conference used instant replay to
review
questionable officials calls and Alvarez is a fan of the concept. He
would have
liked it in place for the Outback Bowl.
On the kickoff following a touchdown that cut their deficit to 24-13,
the
Badgers kicked to Georgia return man Tyson Browning who juggled the ball
as he
drifted toward the end zone and side line. The officials ruled Browning
had
stepped out at the 1-yard line and gave Georgia possession there.
Replays showed
that Browning carried the ball back across the goal line before stepping
out
of the end zone which would have been ruled a safety.
Alvarez said the explanation he got was that Browing stepped out at the
one
before crossing into the end zone.
"I'm in favor of instant replay and I did mention to the officials
that
(pause) I'm sure they'll be using it soon," he said.
NO HUDDLE SCRAMBLE: Georgia employed a no-huddle offense throughout the
first
quarter, but Wisconsin all-American safety Jim Leonhard discounted its
effectiveness.
"We were prepared," Leonhard said. "I kind of thought they
thought we
were
going to wear down, but I really don't think that we did. I mean it
wasn't a
real rush-to-the-line, get you moving. I didn't really think it affected
the
game at all."
The hard counts were a different story, however. Leonhard thought the
Badgers might have been too eager defensively early.
"Anytime you have such a long layoff, guys are just really excited to
be
back out there," he said. "And (Greene) is a great quarterback, he's
done that
all year and we knew he was going to do it. I think guys were just
really
excited and ready to make that first hit."
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