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Wisconsin alumnus football bulletin
Volume 58, Number 7 (Nov. 26, 1956)
Wisconsin alumnus football bulletin, pp. [1]-[7] ff.
Page [3]
Patrick J. Levenhagen William A. Lowe -FB -RH State, but he never was given the vote of confidence that Coach Bruhn had given him before this game. Bruhn turned to Williams in desper- ation after the disappointing Northwest- ern game, and by hard work, and a simplification of the offense, Bruhn determined that Williams could handle the job against the Illini. Williams did, too. He ran the team well, even ran well himself off the options afforded him, and passed better than any Wisconsin quarterback this season. His seven completions in 11 attempts for 95 yards helped keep the Illini defense honest, and paved the way for the success the Badger backs did achieve on the ground. The Badgers again found themselves plagued by the absence of a consistent scoring punch, but they did score twice -something that had not happened since the opener against Marquette. The Badger offense under Williams was sluggish during the early moments of the game, and the first two times Wisconsin had the ball, a gain of only 12 yards rushing, one incomplete pass and five yards for backfield in motion, comprised the offensive atack. Dick Kolian's second punt of the game was a short one for 21 yards, and Illinois took over on its own 47 yard line. An earlier march by Illinois from Wisconsin's 48 yard line had been thrown back when it reached the Badg- ers 25, but on this occasion, the drive was sustained for 53 yards, covering 14 plays, for the first score of the game. Good running by Smith, Delveaux, and McMullen, plus a key pass from Offenbecher, the quarterback, to Smith, good for 5 yards, put the Illini in posi- tion for the tally, with Rolla McMullen charging over from the one yard line. Miller's. kick made the score 7-0 with just three minutes left in the first quarter. The Badgers took the ensuing kickoff and marched downfield from their 32 to the Illinois 14, where Williams fumbled, and Guard Dave Walker of the Illini recovered. Williams carried the ball five times on the march for 21 yards, and tossed two passes to End Dave Howard. The fumble was a back break, but a clipping penalty on Illinois moved the ball back to the Illini one yard line, and a third down punt by left halfback Abe Woodson, making his only appearance of the game, travelled just 12 yards, and Wisconsin had a first down on the 13 yard line. Six plays were needed for the Bad- gers to tally, with Billy Lowe charging over on fourth down from the one yard after Wisconsin had a first down on the two yard line. The extra point attempt by Glenn Bestor was wide and Wisconsin trailed 7-6. Late in the second quarter, the Badg- ers played "Santa Claus", as a fumbled handoff, on the first play after stopping an Illinois threat on the Wisconsin 20, was recovered by Walker of the Illini. Four plays and Illinois led 13-6. Bobby Mitchell scooted nine yards on a reverse, and Harry Jefferson moved 14 yards to the one yard line, whence he plunged over for the score. Miller's kick was not good, and that was the way the score stood until the clock showed just 3:16 left to play in the game. The second half was dominated by Wisconsin, though there were anxious ter. Illinois took the kickoff and moved TEAM STATISTICS FIRST DOWNS Wis. Rushing -------------------6 Passing --------------------7 Penalty --------------------1 NET RUSHING YARDAGE ___181 Number of rushes ----------58 NET PASSING YARDAGE --- 95 Number of passes ---------12 Passes completed ----------7 Passes intercepted by -------- 0 PUNTS BY ------------------3 Total punt yardage ---------26.7 FUMBLES BY ----------------5 Fumbles lost by -------------3 PENALTIES ON -----------4 Yards lost on penalties ------ 20 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS (Wisconsin) Passing Att. Comp. Int. Carlson ----------1 0 0 Williams -------- 11 7 0 Ill. 14 1 0 188 61 32 8 2 0 7 26.4 3 1 from their 23 to Wisconsin's 39, where the Badgers stiffened, and forced Ron Nitschke to punt-which he did--out of bounds on Wisconsin's 6 yard line. Wisconsin controlled the game from here, but waited until the final minutes to tally the tying score. Williams moved the team 93 yards to Illinois' one foot line, where Captain Pat Levenhagen was stopped short of the goal on fourth down. A 36 yard quick opener by Billy Lowe started the drive, and Williams twice on fourth down plays pulled the Badgers together to pick up the vital first down. The Badgers forced Illinois to punt again, and took over on the Illinois 42, and then proceeded downfield to a first down on the 12 yard line, with Ken Hofer's 19 yard run the highlight. But, here, the Illini pushed the Badgers back, and three running plays lost Wisconsin 26 yards-one being an attempted pass play on which Williams could not find an open receiver. The Badgers kept the pressure on, however, by blocking Nitschke's fourth down punt on the next series, with Art Bloedorn breaking through. Martin Booher fell on the ball, and Wisconsin was 15 yards away from the promised land. Four plays netted 10 yards, but not a first down, according to the meas- uring chains. Illinois spurted briefly here, moving out to their 47 yard line. One of the -1-- ~ ~ r~~ -r-)oA - -41 caught the Badgers napping, but Melvin Pass Receiving Howard---------- Reinke----------- Lewis------------ Hill------------- Lowe Caught Yardage 2 18 8 34 2 25 1 10 Rushing Att. Bridgeman --------------2 Hofer ------------------3 Kolian -----------------4 Levenhagen -------------6 Lewis ------------------11 Lowe ------------------9 Melvin ----------------3 Williams --------------20 Net 12 25 8 19 39 54 4 20 TD 0 0 0 0 0 Ave. 6.0 8.3 2.0 3.2 3.5 6.0 1.3 1.0 4 Punting Punts Total Yds. Ave. 40 Kolian ------------3 80 26.7 Yds. 0 95 Score by quarters: Wisconsin: 0 6 0 7-13 Illinois: 7 6 0 0-13 Wisconsin 13, Illinois 13
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