Badgers Turn Tigers Into Pussycats » Brats & Beer

January 2, 2006
posted under: Badgers football, Capital One Bowl

Wisconsin sent head coach Barry Alvarez out in style with a 24-10 victory over Auburn in the Capital One Bowl. It really was an outstanding game by the Badgers, who entered the game as double digit underdogs. The defense held the Tigers to 236 yards of offense and came up with two turnovers while the offense exploded for 548 yards. There were a lot of standout performances, but John Stocco played the game of his life, throwing for 302 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. And then there was Brian Calhoun rushing for 214 yards and one TD on 30 carries.

The Badgers took the early lead on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Stocco to Brandon Williams and a 19-yard field goal from Taylor Mehlhaff and never looked back. I thought the game might have started to go downhill for UW in the third quarter, but they stuck together and slowed Auburn just enough. The final drive to run out the clock, though, was a classic back breaker. Stocco made a heroic pass out of the end zone while in the grasp of two defenders, connecting with Williams for 36 yards, then it was all Calhoun marching the ball down the field to the Auburn one-yard line. Sweet.