Monday State Sports Briefs: UW moves up in polls after big win

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MADISON - The University of Wisconsin football team is now in the national Top-Five after its 48-17 pounding of Nebraska on Saturday night. The Badgers moved up three spots yesterday to No. 4 in the Associated Press media poll. And they jumped two places to fifth in the USA Today-ESPN coaches’ poll.

The Badgers are third in the nation in scoring with almost 48.5 points a game. And quarterback Russell Wilson is second in the country with a passer efficiency rating of 216.89. He’s already generating a lot of talk about a possible Heisman Trophy. And the Badgers as a team are making a buzz as a possible participant in the BCS national championship game. The first BCS standings will come out after the October 22nd games. Wisconsin is 1-0 in the Big Ten and 5-0 overall. The Badgers are off this coming weekend. They’ll host Indiana in their Homecoming game on October 15th. Kick-off is set for 11 a.m. and the game will be broadcast by ESPN2.

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University of Wisconsin linebacker Mike Taylor was named this morning as the Big Ten’s defensive player-of-the-week. And Badgers’ quarterback Russell Wilson is the co-offensive player-of-the-week, along with Illinois receiver A.J. Jenkins. Taylor had one of three interceptions in Wisconsin’s 48-17 home rout of Nebraska on Saturday night. And Taylor had 14 tackles in that game. Wilson completed 14-of-20 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for 32 yards and another score. Wilson has now thrown a TD pass in 29 straight games, dating back to his days at North Carolina State. That’s the longest such streak in the country.

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Top-ranked UW-Whitewater is still the only Wisconsin school in the new small college Top-25 from D3football.com. The Warhawks received 21 first-place votes after winning their WIAC opener on Saturday, 34-14 over UW-Platteville. Second-place Mount Union got the other four first-place votes. Platteville received at least some votes in the poll, as did Oshkosh and Eau Claire.

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Former Marquette University track standout Nick Szczech won the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon yesterday. He ran the 26-miles-plus in two hours, 22 minutes, and 17 seconds. Amber Druien of Woodstock, Illinois won the women’s race in 2:54:16.

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Arizona Diamondbacks’ manager Kirk Gibson says he’s tipping his hat to the Milwaukee Brewers at this point. But he says the D-Backs have been resilient all year – and they’ll show it tomorrow night in Game-Three of their National League Division Series. The Brewers took the first two games at Miller Park, including yesterday’s 9-4 victory in which Milwaukee scored the deciding five runs in the sixth inning. Gibson said his team battled in the final three innings yesterday – and they’ll keep that attitude tomorrow night when the series shifts to Phoenix. The Diamondbacks lead the Majors in come-from-behind victories. And they’re one of just three National League teams with more than 50 wins at home this season. The D-Backs went 51-30 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Milwaukee led the Majors with a 57-24 home mark. Brewers’ outfielder Ryan Braun said the home field advantage helped his team win Games-One-and-Two. The Brewers need to win one-of-the-remaining three games against Arizona to advance to their first League Championship Series since 1982 – which was the first round back then before baseball had Wild Cards. Right-hander Shaun Marcum will face rookie Josh Collmenter in Game-Three. It starts at 8:37 tomorrow night. If necessary, Game-Four will also start at 8:37 on Wednesday night. And if there’s a deciding Game-Five, will be played at Miller Park at 4:07 on Friday afternoon.

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Aaron Rodgers had a record-setting performance against Denver yesterday. The Elias Sports Bureau said no NFL quarterback had ever thrown for 400 yards, had four touchdown passes, and ran for two more TD’s in the same game. But Rodgers did all that yesterday. His 408 passing yards made up the lion’s share of the 507 yards of total offense Green Bay had. And Rodgers’ quarterback rating was 134-point-five. That’s the sixth-highest in his four seasons as a starter, including the playoffs. The Broncos were missing their best corner, veteran Champ Bailey – and they may have over-compensated for his loss by keying on tight end Jermichael Finley, who had three touchdown catches at Chicago last week. But by focusing on Finley, other receivers were open – and Rodgers took advantage. He even caught Greg Jennings uncovered on one play. Rodgers completed 29-of-38 passes to get his 407 yards – and they were the third-highest total for a single game in Green Bay history. Rodgers said he didn’t feel his best in the pocket – but the Packers still made the Broncos pay for drops in coverage and mistakes. The Packers are now 4-0, and will play at Atlanta next Sunday night.

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Packers’ receiver Jordy Nelson reportedly signed a three-year contract extension over the weekend. That’s according to ESPN, which says Nelson will get five-million-dollars in guaranteed money – and the total amount of the package is $13-and-a-half million. Nelson is in the final year of his rookie contract. Before the new deal, he was scheduled to make $565,000 dollars this year. The contract also includes incentives which could raise the total amount to $15-million.

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Suspended Packers’ defensive lineman Johnny Jolly has again been charged with possessing drugs and tampering with evidence. He was in the Harris County Jail in his home area of Houston today, after being charged during the weekend with possessing a compound with illegal codeine. Authorities said Jolly also tried to hide the evidence from investigators. Court officials said a bond for Jolly was not set as of mid-morning. He was first arrested in 2008 for possessing codeine. He struck a plea deal about six months ago, in which a similar charge from March was dropped. Jolly remains suspended by the NFL. He has not played since the end of the 2009 season.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team has a five-game unbeaten streak after shutting out sixth-ranked Indiana 2-0 yesterday at the McClimon Track/Soccer Complex in Madison. It was the Badgers’ Big Ten opener, and they’re now 5-3-2 overall. Their last defeat came on September 11th. Tomislav Zadro and A.J. Cochran scored in Wisconsin’s first victory over the Hoosiers since October of 1995.

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In women’s soccer, Marquette University shut out Cincinnati on the road, 4-0. Cara Jacobson, Vanessa Legault-Cordisco, Emily Jacobson, and Lindsey Page all scored off the bench. The Golden Eagles are now 5-1 in the Big East and 12-2 overall. Also in women's soccer, Wisconsin lost at home to Ohio State 1-0 Sunday afternoon. The loss drops the Badgers to 2-1-2 in Big Ten play, 7-5-2 overall.

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The Marquette University volleyball team is 3-0 in conference play for the first time in school history. The Golden Eagles swept Saint John’s in New York yesterday, three-sets-to-none. Danielle Carlson had 13 kills for the Golden Eagles, who are now 13-4 overall. Saint John’s remains winless in four Big East matches.

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The University of Wisconsin volleyball team is now 2-2 in the Big Ten, after an upset of No. 24 Ohio State 3-1 last night in Columbus. It was the Badgers’ first win over the Buckeyes in two years. Freshman Crystal Graff led the Badgers with 14 kills. Wisconsin improved its overall mark to 10-6.

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