Wisconsin Transfer Has Bowling Green on Run

The Wisconsin Badgers didn’t have the defense to keep up with Omar Jacobs. They still found a way to stop Bowling Green’s prolific passer -- by putting the ball in Brian Calhoun’s hands.

The transfer from Colorado rushed for 258 yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns in 43 carries in Wisconsin’s 56-42 victory over the Falcons on Saturday.

“They kept the ball to keep our offense off the field,” Jacobs said. “That’s normally the way we play.”

Calhoun, a Milwaukee-area native, played two seasons for the Buffaloes before returning home and sitting out last year while awaiting his chance to join the long list of premier running backs at Wisconsin.

Nobody in the program’s history has rushed for more yards in his debut, and his five scores tied the school mark set by Billy Marek in 1974 and tied by Anthony Davis in 2002, both against Minnesota.

“I haven’t played in a year and a half now,” Calhoun said. “So I’m as fresh as any other back in the country.”

Calhoun, who bested Alan Thompson’s 220-yard debut against Oklahoma in 1969, scored on runs of 20, five, five, one and nine yards.

Calhoun was careful not to take all the credit for his spectacular opener, saying his teammates made it easy by opening big holes for him all day: “They were huge. Me, Coach Alvarez, anybody in this room could have run through them.”

His first three scores came during a 35-point second quarter, the biggest in Barry Alvarez’s 16 seasons as coach. But his shortest score might have been his biggest.

It broke a 35-35 halftime tie and set the tone for a vastly different second half after the defenses had been shredded for 10 touchdowns.

With eight new starters on defense, the Badgers had a tough time slowing Jacobs, who racked up 305 yards passing and four touchdowns in the first half.

But after Calhoun’s fourth touchdown made it 42-35, Jacobs misfired on his next five passes and was sacked twice as the Falcons generated only one yard in the third quarter.

“I spent most of the third quarter on our sideline cheering for our defense,” said Jacobs, who completed 30 of 51 passes for 458 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.