Gary Andersen
Wisconsin head football coach Gary Andersen has been named one of 20 semifinalists for the Maxwell Football Club collegiate Coach of the Year Award. It’s the second season the Badgers’ second-year head coach has earned the honor.
Andersen has led Wisconsin to a 17-6 record in his two seasons in Madison, including an 11-3 mark in Big Ten games. That is the best start for a UW coach through 14 games in conference play in the modern era (since 1946).
Andersen joins Nick Saban (Alabama), Art Briles (Baylor), David Cutcliffe (Duke), Jimbo Fischer (Florida State) and Urban Meyer (Ohio State) as the only coaches to appear on the semifinalist list in each of the past two seasons.
Melvin Gordon
Wisconsin junior running back Melvin Gordon sprinted into the NCAA record book last Saturday with a single-game record 408 rushing yards against No. 11 Nebraska.
Gordon was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award on Wednesday. This marks the second consecutive season Gordon has earned this distinction and it is the fifth-straight season and 10th time in the last 17 years a Badger running back has been named to the semifinalist list.
Gordon is also one of 15 players on the Walter Camp Foundation’s “players to Watch” list for its 2014 Player of the Year award, the fourth-oldest college football award in the nation. Gordon and Miami’s Duke Johnson are the only running backs to appear on the list.
The Badgers are currently 8-2, 5-1 in the Big Ten and in first place in the West Division. The Badgers are riding a five-game winning streak in which they have outscored their opponents by an average of 29.8 points per game.