Badgers Will Try to Ground It Out

This should be the time for a sigh of relief. When UCLA lost to Wisconsin in the 1999 Rose Bowl, eventual Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne ran for 246 yards for the Badgers. The Bruins play Wisconsin in the Sun Bowl on Friday, but at least Dayne runs in the NFL now.

Hold that sigh, Bruin fans. The Badgers now feature Michael Bennett, who averaged 160 yards rushing a game.

“We’ve got to stop the run,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “If we don’t stop the run, they’ll keep running, and that will keep the ball away from us.”

Defensive coordinator Bob Field said the Bruins will employ formations that include eight and nine players close to the line of scrimmage, in theory one way to stop a dominant back. When Oregon did that to the Bruins’ DeShaun Foster this year, Foster ran for 49 yards. When Oregon tried that against Bennett this year, Bennett ran for 290.

Dayne might be stronger, but Bennett is strong enough. Bennett is faster, so much so that he qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials in the 100-meter dash.

“If he gets into the open, we don’t have anybody who can catch him,” Field said. “There’s probably not a defensive player in the country that can go step-by-step with him.”

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Toledo said he would allow his players to stay out late in El Paso and enjoy the bowl festivities, but he said he would ask them not to venture into the adjacent city of Juarez, Mexico.

“I think they can only get into trouble there,” Toledo said. “You get out of the States, you get thrown in jail, and you’ve got problems.”