FOOTBALL RELEASE • OCTOBER 9, 2006 Quick Hits GAME 7: MINNESOTA AT WISCONSIN Wisconsin vs. Minnesota is Records: Minnesota (2-4, 0-3) at Wisconsin (5-1, 2-1) the most-played rivalry in Date / Time: Saturday, Oct. 14 at 11:02 a.m. CDT Division IA, as the two teams Location: Madison, Wis. (Camp Randall Stadium / 80,321) will meet for the 116th time Live TV: ESPN (Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Rob on Saturday ... the schools Stone) have played every year since Tape Delay TV: Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) airs statewide 1907 ... the winner of the at 10:30 p.m. (Mike Heller and Scott Nelson) game has been awarded the Radio: Wisconsin Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas) ... Paul Bunyan Axe every sea- 53 affiliates throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota, including son since 1948 ... UW red- WIBA (1310 AM / 101.5 FM in Madison) and WTMJ (620 AM) in shirt freshman running back Milwaukee P.J. Hill ran for a career-high Polls: UW is ranked 25th in the A.P poll / UM is not ranked 249 yards against Coaches: Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema (1st year as a head coach: Northwestern and ranks fifth 5-1) and Minnesota’s Glen Mason (20th year as a head coach: in the country in rushing 112-113-1 / 9th year at UM: 53-49) yards per game (141.2 ypg.) Series: Minnesota leads the series 59-48-8 ... over the past two games, Last Meeting: Wisconsin won 38-34 in Minneapolis on Oct. 15, the Badgers have scored 93 2005 ... the Badgers overcame a 10-point deficit with 3:27 left in points and gained 1,066 the game ... UW scored the game-winning touchdown on a yards of total offense ... UW blocked punt by Jonathan Casillas and recovery in the end zone is ranked for the first time by Ben Strickland. this season, debuting in the Wisconsin-Minnesota Series Notes: Wisconsin and Minnesota Associated Press poll at No. will square off for their NCAA Division IA record-116th meeting 25 ... Saturday is the 99th on Saturday ... the two schools have played every year since Homecoming game in UW 1907 ... the winner of the game annually takes possession of the history (the first one was in P.J. Hill was named Big Ten Co-Offensive fabled Paul Bunyan Axe ... UW has won five straight games Player of the Week after running for 249 1908) ... Wisconsin and Ohio against Minnesota in Madison and nine of the last 11 meetings yards against Northwestern, the 10th-best State enter this weekend performance in UW history. overall ... UW’s Minnesota natives include: QB John Stocco with more wins (24 apiece) (Richfield), WR Isaac Anderson (Minneapolis), LB Paul Joran than any other Big Ten (Apple Valley), DB Kim Royston (Minneapolis) and C Marcus Coleman (Plymouth) schools since the start of the 2004 season. 2006 Wisconsin Schedule / Results Polls* Date Opponent UW / Opp. Live TV Time/Score Highlight S 2 vs. Bowling Green# NR / NR ESPNR W, 35-14 Hill runs for 130 yards / Casillas blocked punt for TD S 9 WESTERN ILLINOIS NR / NR ESPNU W, 34-10 Hill scores three TDs / UW records three interceptions S 16 SAN DIEGO STATE NR / NR ESPN+ W, 14-0 Defense limits SDSU to 115 total yards / Hill rushes for 184 yards S 23 at Michigan NR / 6th & 6th ESPN L, 13-27 Defense records three INTs / Hill accounts for 118 total yards S 30 at Indiana NR / NR ESPN2 W, 52-17 Stocco pass efficiency of 296.7 / Hill runs for 129 yards and three TDs O 7 NORTHWESTERN NR / NR ESPN360 W, 41-9 Hill runs for 249 yards / UW outgains NU 527-216 O 14 MINNESOTA 25th & NR / NR ESPN 11 a.m. O 21 at Purdue ESPN 11 a.m. O 28 ILLINOIS TBA 11 a.m. N 4 PENN STATE TBA TBA N 11 at Iowa TBA TBA N 18 BUFFALO TBA TBA All times Central *AP & USA Today #at Cleveland Browns Stadium ESPNR = ESPN Regional ESPNU = ESPN University ESPN+ = ESPN Plus Local University of Wisconsin • Intercollegiate Athletics Kellner Hall • 1440 Monroe Street • Madison, Wisconsin 53711 (608) 262-1866 • www.uwbadgers.com Notable, Quotable and Promotable Our top items for this week ... Saturday will be the latest install- RUNNING WILD ment of the most-played rivalry in Division IA. Wisconsin and 1 Freshman of the Year candidate P.J. Hill has burst on the college football scene in his first year as a Badger. Minnesota have met 115 times previously, The redshirt freshman running back carried the ball 35 times for a career-high 249 yards last Saturday including every season since 1907. UM against Northwestern, the 10th-best performance in Wisconsin history. It was the fourth-best performance holds a 59-48-8 advantage all-time but by a UW freshman, trailing only three games by Ron Dayne, college football’s all-time leading rusher, in UW has won nine of the last 11 meetings. 1996. Since 1948, the winner of this game has been awarded Paul Bunyan’s Axe. Rushing Yards in a Game (UW Freshmen) 339 Ron Dayne vs. Hawaii, 1996 Wisconsin has scored 93 points 297 Ron Dayne vs. Minnesota, 1996 and racked up 1,066 yards of 289 Ron Dayne vs. Illinois, 1996 total offense over the last two 2 249 P.J. Hill vs. Northwestern, 2006 games. That’s the most points for the 246 Ron Dayne vs. Utah, 1996 Badgers in consecutive Big Ten games since scoring 99 points against Indiana Hill leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth in the nation, averaging 141.2 rushing yards per game. That is the best (59) and Michigan State (40) in 1999. average among freshmen in the country. Hill is also the third-leading receiver for Wisconsin with 13 catches for 155 yards this season. With his rushing and receiving numbers combined, Hill ranks fourth in the UW is allowing just 12.8 points country in all-purpose yardage (167.0 ypg). Hill has scored at least one touchdown in every game this per game, second-lowest in the season and has 10 for the year. He ranks among the top 10 in the country in both TDs and scoring. 3 Big Ten and 13th-best in the country. The Badgers lead the Big Ten and P.J. Hill in the National Rankings rank ninth in the country in total defense, All-Purpose Yards: 4th (167.0 ypg.) yielding just 246.7 yards per game. Rushing Yards: 5th (141.2 ypg.) Touchdowns: T6th (10) The Badgers rushed for a season- Scoring: T8th (10.0 ppg.) high 307 yards against Northwestern, their first 300-yard 4 Hill needs just 153 yards to become just the third freshman running back in Wisconsin history to reach the rushing performance since running for 1,000-yard mark. The other two are Ron Dayne (1996) and Anthony Davis (2001). Entering this year, UW 388 yards against Bowling Green on Sept. has had a 1,000-yard rusher in 11 of the past 13 seasons. 3, 2005. On the season, UW ranks 21st in the country in rushing offense (186.8 ypg.) Season Rushing Yards (UW Freshmen) 1. 2,109 Ron Dayne, 1996 Wisconsin is second in the coun- 2. 1,466 Anthony Davis, 2001 try in pass efficiency defense at 3. 847 P.J. Hill, 2006 87.5. The Badgers are allowing 5 4. 824 Alan Ameche, 1951 just 8.63 yards per completion, best in the 5. 552 Dwayne Smith, 2002 nation. UW opponents have scored only two touchdowns through the air, tied with At 5-11, 242, Hill is viewed as a bruising running back, and rightly so. However, he also has the speed to Western Michigan for the fewest passing break off big runs. This season he has five plays of at least 30 yards, including three runs of 44 yards or touchdowns allowed in the country. The longer. His 60-yard touchdown run against Northwestern was the longest TD run for a UW player since Badgers also rank third in the country in Anthony Davis scored on a 71-yard scamper against Minnesota on Nov. 23, 2002. passing defense, allowing just 128.0 yards through the air this season. P.J. Hill’s Long Plays This Season 60-yard run vs. Northwestern (TD) Quarterback John Stocco has 53-yard run vs. San Diego State (TD) completed 31 of 38 passes for 44-yard run vs. Northwestern 6 524 yards and four touchdowns 37-yard reception vs. Indiana with just one interception over the past 32-yard run vs. San Diego State two games. That equates to a pass efficien- 29-yard reception vs. Michigan (TD) cy rating of 226.9 and a completion per- 25-yard run vs. Indiana centage of .816. His 296.7 pass efficiency 22-yard reception vs. Bowling Green rating against Indiana on Sept. 30 was a school record. Stocco ranks second in the Big Ten in pass efficiency in conference After playing three of its first five UW held a 14:14 advantage in games (164.2). games away from home, time of possession against 8 Wisconsin is playing five of its 9 Northwestern. The Badgers’ 37:07 In the last three seasons, while last seven games at Camp Randall time of possession was their largest since Bret Bielema has been on Stadium. The Badgers are 19-4 in their holding the ball for 37:14 against Temple 7 Wisconsin’s coaching staff, the last 23 home games. That includes a 14-1 on Sept.