MADISON, Wis. (AP) -Sure, Wisconsin’s 70-3 rout of Austin Peay looked impressive as it scrolled across score tickers on televisions throughout the country. And a near-perfect performance was a nice change for the Badgers after showing a few flaws in their first three nonconference wins.
In terms of getting ready for Big Ten play, though, it probably didn’t mean much.
Austin Peay is a Football Championship Subdivision team – and not an elite one. When Wisconsin (4-0) heads to Michigan State for its Big Ten opener next Saturday, the Badgers know the level of competition will go up considerably.
“We were talking about that on the sidelines,” said freshman running back James White, who had breakout performance with four touchdowns Saturday. “(John) Clay and Zach Brown were telling me that it’s a lot different when Big Ten play comes. These guys are bigger, faster, stronger, things like that. They’re out to win the Big Ten championship just like we are. Everybody’s excited to go the extra 110 percent just to go out there and get that win.”
Wisconsin, which came into Saturday’s game ranked No. 11, won its first three nonconference games but didn’t necessarily look like an elite team in the process. If not for a blocked extra point by safety Jay Valai, Arizona State would have come back to tie Wisconsin late in the fourth quarter.
The Badgers hardly looked shaky on Saturday, scoring touchdowns on their first nine possessions.
Wisconsin’s 70 points set a modern-era school record; Wisconsin scored 69 points in a win over New Mexico State in 1962. Their 67-point margin of victory was their best in the modern era, surpassing a 65-0 win over Temple in 2005.
Badgers coach Bret Bielema was pleased that his team stayed focused in a blowout.
“During the course of the week, what we really preached to the kids was to play the game the way it needs to get played,” Bielema said. “It doesn’t matter what your opponent is. Respect all, fear none. Get them to play a four-quarter game no matter who was in there. That’s probably the biggest thing I can take out of this. I really thought that after the game got out of hand a little bit scoring-wise and we started rolling people through in all phases, offense, defense and special teams, they continued to play really clean.”
Bielema said his team is excited to begin conference play.
“The thing we’ll focus on is, first off, what do we have in our agenda to get ready for them,” Bielema said. “We know what we’ve had success with in the past and what we haven’t, and that’s the part that we need to address first with our players, what is the game plan for us to have success, before we even start talking about what Michigan State will bring for us.”
Quarterback Scott Tolzien said coaches haven’t talked much about conference play yet.
“I think that’s the right way to approach it,” he said. “When you start looking forward, that’s when you get nicked from behind.”
That almost happened against Arizona State, but it wasn’t a concern against Austin Peay.
“The biggest thing is that we played a clean game,” Tolzien said. “A lot of times games like this guys get complacent, but I thought today we maximized our opportunities. Guys came out ready to play and embraced the opportunity.”
Tolzien, who completed 76.2 percent of his passes in nonconference play, said the Badgers have to get better.
“Now everything’s got to be that much smoother,” Tolzien said. “Everybody’s really gotta step up to the plate and have great practices, great meetings. We’ve just gotta be that much better because now the little things are going to start mattering that much more.”
Wisconsin hopes to get receivers Nick Toon and David Gilreath back from injuries to start conference play. And the emergence of White will give opposing defensive coordinators one more thing to think about in the running game beyond Clay.
“We faced a challenge last week versus Arizona State,” White said. “This game was a good next step leading into the Big Ten. You try and execute each drive like we did this week, trying to score on every drive. I know the competition will be more with Michigan State, so we can’t get big-headed, and have to stay focused in practice. We have to try and do the same thing we did this week for every other week.”
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