RB Ball Hopes To Push Badgers To Rose Bowl
CHRIS JENKINS,AP Sports Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's Montee Ball was named the Big Ten's offensive player of the year just this week.
With another big performance against Michigan State at Saturday's inaugural Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis, the Badgers' running back could very well become a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Such things are bound to happen when a player piles up more touchdowns than 29 teams in the NCAA's top division have scored all season.
Ball isn't shying away from the attention.
"You've got to embrace it," Ball said. "You've got to embrace it because it's something you can never take for granted. It could be the last team I play, it could be the last camera I talk to. You've just got to embrace it."
Going into Saturday's game, Ball has scored 34 touchdowns this season. That's a Big Ten single-season record, and only five shy of the NCAA single-season record 39 touchdowns Barry Sanders scored for Oklahoma State in 1988.
Between Ball and quarterback Russell Wilson, the Badgers believe they have two candidates worthy of Heisman consideration.
"Those are both really, really good players who have the numbers to back it up," Badgers coach Bret Bielema said. "I think in the world of college football, a lot of it is predetermined by hype. Obviously, nobody knew a lot about Russell before this year on the big stage. I mean, we all knew he was a good player, and, Montee, kind of the same boat. He had really productive numbers last year, but John Clay got invited to the Doak Walker over him. So it is what it is."
Of course, those awards won't mean as much if Wisconsin falls again to Michigan State.
Wisconsin's shocking last-second loss on a deflected Hail Mary pass at Michigan State on Oct. 22, along with a surprisingly similar loss at Ohio State the following week, knocked the Badgers out of the national championship picture.
"After losing to Michigan State, it stung a little bit, and after losing to Ohio State, we thought all of our hopes and dreams were out the window," Ball said. "But that's why Coach B is such a great coach. He kept us focused and pretty soon we were back in the driver's seat again."
Ball acknowledged that Michigan State "deserved" to win that game, rather than dismissing it as a fluke.
"We did it to ourselves," Ball said. "We had mistakes in that game. We were doing stuff that we just don't do. Watching film, we noticed that. We weren't playing how we usually play."
And while Michigan State has beaten Wisconsin three of the past four years and twice in a row, Ball said the Badgers are more focused on getting to the Rose Bowl than they are on getting revenge.
"We're not approaching the game like we're trying to get revenge back at them," Ball said. "But obviously there's a lot more fire under us to not let the little mistakes go in practice because we could lose to them. We have to make sure we get after them this time."
Having Ball on the field for the whole game should help.
Ball missed part of the Oct. 22 loss at Michigan State because of an injury; Bielema said at the time that Ball was "dinged" in the first half, indicating a head injury, but he was cleared for the second half.
"After the game, I blamed myself for taking myself out," Ball said. "But we're going to do a great job this time. We're going to have a very high-tempo offense."
And with another big performance from that high-tempo offense on Saturday, Bielema believes both Ball and Wilson should get invited to the Heisman ceremony.
"I don't think either one of them get really wrapped up in it," Bielema said. "But it truly would be a disservice to both of them if neither one of them got invited to one of the final seats."
___
Freelance writer Tammy Madsen contributed to this report.
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
