Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Montee Ball

Montee Ball to the Packers???

By

Montee Ball

Montee Ball

You’ll see any number of players projected to go to the Green Bay Packers with the 26th pick in the first round of this April’s NFL Draft.  Don Banks of SI.com posted his first NFL mock draft has Wisconsin Badger running back Montee Ball going to the Packers with their 1st round selection.

The last running back drafted by the Packers was Alex Green in the third round of the 2011 draft.  The last running back chosen by the Packers in the first round was Darrell Thompson in 1990 out of Minnesota.

 

Badgers drop third straight Rose Bowl

By

The Wisconsin Badgers fell behind 14-0 and never quite caught up, dropping their 3rd straight Rose Bowl 20-14 to the Stanford in Pasadena.

Curt Phillips

Curt Phillips

 

The Cardinal scored touchdowns on their first two drives before the Badger defense would tighten their belts and allow only a pair of field goals the rest of the way.

Things were looking up for the Badgers when Curt Phillips engineered a 10-play, 85-yard drive, capped off with a 4-yard TD pass to Jordan Frederick and closed the gap to 17-14.

The Badgers would start the second half with the football, but unfortunately, Stanford’s defense held them off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Wisconsin would get one final chance, trailing 20-14 with 4:23 left.  Wisconsin moved from its 25 to the Stanford 49, but Phillips had a pass attempt tipped at the line of scrimmage and land in the hands of Stanford defensive back Usua Amanam and that would end the Badger threat. [Read more…]

Ball is repeat All-American

By

For the second straight year, Wisconsin Badger runningback Montee Ball was

Montee Ball

named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press.

Ball is the NCAA’s all-time leader in touchdowns (82) and also holds the NCAA mark for all-time rushing touchdowns (76).  He is tied for fourth all-time among Big Ten players in rushing yards (5,040).

Ball is 13th nationally in rushing yards this season with 1,730 and is tied for fourth nationally in rushing touchdowns with 21. 

The 8-5 Badgers will face 11-2 Stanford in the New Years Day Rose Bowl.

Ball wins Doak Walker Award as nation’s top running back

By

Wisconsin Badger running back Montee Ball was awarded the Doak Walker Award at the Home Depot College Football Awards at Walt

Montee Ball

Disney World tonight.  Ball also was named to the Walter Camp All-America team for the second-consecutive season.

Ball finished ahead of fellow Doak Walker finalists Kenjon Barner of Oregon and Johnathan Franklin of UCLA for the honor, which has been presented to the nation’s most outstanding running back each year since 1989.

Ball becomes Wisconsin’s second Doak Walker Award winner, joining 1999 winner Ron Dayne.  He’s the sixth Big Ten player to earn the honor, and the first since Iowa’s Shonn Greene in 2008.

Ball is the NCAA’s all-time leader in touchdowns with 82 and also holds the NCAA career record for rushing touchdowns with 76.  He ranks in a tie for fourth all-time among Big Ten players with 5,040 career rushing yards and became the 17th player in FBS history to surpass 5,000 yards.

Ball will be honored at the 2012 Doak Walker Award Banquet on Feb. 15 in Dallas.

Alvarez may coach Badgers in the Rose Bowl

By

While Barry Alvarez is already searching for Bret Bielema’s replacement as head football coach in Madison, and Wisconsin’s athletic

Barry Alvarez

director may pick himself to coach the team in the New Years Day Rose Bowl game against Stanford in less than a month.

According to  story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, reporter Jeff Potrykus says the tip comes from a source close to the UW program. 

Bielema took the head coaching job at Arkansas on Tuesday, met with his Badger players early Tuesday evening, then boarded a plan for Arkansas. 

According to some of his former players in Madison, Bielema saw the opportunity to go to Arkansas as a better chance to win a National Championship than he had in Madison.

AUDIO: Montee Ball asked why Bielema left Wisconsin :02

In an Arkansas release on Tuesday night, Bielema said, “I am very humbled and honored to become the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.  During my conversation with Jeff (Long) he described the characteristics for the perfect fit to lead this program.  It was evident we share the same mission, principles and goals.” [Read more…]

Wisconsin runs through Nebraska on the way to Pasadena

By

Last week, many were questioning whether the (then) 7-5 Wisconsin Badger Football team deserved a spot in the Big Ten Title Game.  After Saturday’s 70-31 win over Nebraska at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the Badgers validated their appearance and punched their ticket to a third straight Rose Bowl.

Wisconsin will take on #6 Stanford, the Pac-12 Champions, January 1st in Pasadena.   The Badgers will be the first Big Ten team since the 1977 to 1979 Michigan Wolverines to play in three straight Rose Bowls.

Wisconsin did all their damage on the ground.  The Badgers piled up 539 rushing yards, the most ever given up by a Nebraska team.  Melvin Gordon racked up 216 yards on 9 carries, Montee Ball added 202 yards on 21 carriers while James White added 109 yards on 15 carries.  The game marked the 2nd time Wisconsin had 3 players rush for over 100 yards and was the first time 2 players hit the 200 yard plateau.  The Badgers also set a school record with 8 rushing TDs.

[Read more…]

Ball’s record-setting performance not enough to beat Penn State

By

Montee Ball became the NCAA’s all-time touchdowns leader but the Wisconsin Badgers (7-5, 4-4 Big Ten) effort against the Penn State

Montee Ball

Nittany Lions (8-4, 6-2 Big Ten) fell short on Saturday.

Even with a record-setting performance from Ball, the Badgers fell to the Nittany Lions 24-21 in overtime at Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA.

Going into halftime, Wisconsin held a 14-7 lead, but Penn State dominated play in the second half, only to see the Badgers tie the game 21-21 at the end of regulation.

Badger running back Montee Ball rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown.  With that one touchdown, Ball overtook Travis Prentice’s previous record of 78 rushing touchdowns.

Quarterback Curt Phillips went 12 of 25 for 191 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

Penn State running back Zach Zwinak rushed for 179 yards and one touchdown, while quarterback Matt McGloin threw for 200 yards, one touchdown, and went 19 of 37 in passing. [Read more…]

Badgers run over Indiana and into Big Ten title game

By

Head coach Bielema impressed with record setting run game against Indiana

The Wisconsin Badgers have solidified their spot in the Big Ten title game by blowing out the Indiana Hoosiers 62-14 in Bloomington on Saturday.  They will face 14th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers or the 21st ranked Michigan Wolverines.

The Badgers (7-3, 4-2 Big Ten) racked up a school-record 564 rushing yards against the Hoosiers (4-6, 2-4 Big Ten).  Junior running back James White rushed for 163 yards on 14 carries and had two touchdowns.  Senior running back Montee Ball rushed for 208 yards on 27 carries and three touchdowns.

AUDIO: Bielema on Ball’s performance :13

Senior quarterback Curt Phillips, in his first collegiate start,  threw for only 41 yards and a touchdown, but added 68 yards on the ground.   Bielema’s plan was to keep the pressure off Phillips, but was impressed with the senior quarterback.

AUDIO: Bielema on plan for QB Phillips :20 [Read more…]

Ball is Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week

By

With three more touchdowns on Saturday at Purdue, Wisconsin senior running back Montee Ball surpassed former Badger Ron Dayne

Montee Ball

in the Big Ten and UW record book for career touchdowns.  With 72 in his three-plus seasons with the Badgers, Ball now has his sights set on the NCAA record of 78 held by Travis Prentice (Miami, OH).

Ball rushed for 247 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns.  The highlight touchdown went for 67 yards on the second play of the third quarter, the longest of Ball’s career. 

For his effort, Ball was rewarded with his fifth career Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week award.  That is the second-most in school history, trailing only Dayne (9), and tied for seventh-most in conference history.

In three conference games, Ball is averaging 152.0 yards per game and has scored eight touchdowns. 

The Badgers next host Minnesota in the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe.  The two teams square off at Camp Randall Stadium at 11am.

Ball fuels Wisconsin Badger win over Purdue

By

Montee Ball scored three rushing touchdowns, including a 67 yard touchdown, to help lift the Wisconsin Badgers (5-2) over the Purdue Boilermakers (3-3) 38-14.

This win moves the Badgers back above the .500 mark in Big Ten play at 2-1, while the Boilermakers fall to 0-2 in conference play.  It also puts the Badgers in the driver’s seat in the Big Ten Leaders Division to get to the Big Ten title game.  Wisconsin has a 2-game lead on Purdue and both Ohio State and Penn State are ineligible to play in the title game.

Badger quarterback Joel Stave completed 12 of his 21 passes, with a touchdown and an interception but the hero on this day was Montee Ball.

Ball rushed for 247 yards on 29 carries with three touchdowns.  It’s the 4th 100 yard game of the season for Ball and the 20th of his career at Wisconsin.  Ball also scored his 72nd touchdown, which sets the all-time Wisconsin and Big Ten record for career rushing touchdowns.  Ball passed Ron Dayne (71 td’s) to take over the top spot. 

The Badgers as a team rushed for more than 400 yards in a game for the 16th time in school history.  The 467 yards rushing is the 5th best in school history.

The Badger offense rolled up 645 total yards, which is the second highest total in school history.  The top single game total is 705 yards against Indiana on Oct. 16, 1999.

Head coach Bret Bielema also earned his 65th career victory at Wisconsin, tying him with Phil King for second place on the all-time victory list at Wisconsin.  Barry Alvarez has 118 career victories.

The  Badgers next face the rival Minnesota Golden Gophers with Paul Bunyan’s Axe on the line, this coming Saturday at Camp Randall.