Wednesday State Sports Briefs: IU wants similar football team as UW

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BLOOMNGTON, IND. - Indiana University football coach Kevin Wilson says he wants his players to do what Wisconsin does – play hard and physical, with good blocking and tackling. But the Hoosiers are not there yet, as they take a 1-5 overall record into Madison on Saturday.

They’ll play a 5-0 Badger team that’s coming off a bye week after winning its Big Ten opener against Nebraska. Indiana is 0-2 in the conference, after getting crushed by 19th-ranked Illinois 41-to-20 at home last week. The Hoosiers blew a 10-nothing lead in that game, and they lost for the 13th straight time to a nationally-ranked opponent. Wisconsin is ranked fourth this week. Wilson says his Indiana team is looking for an identity because quote, “Our team doesn’t play with that right now.” It’s been 18 years since Indiana had a winning record in Big Ten play.

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Rams’ running back Steven Jackson is expected to be at full strength on Sunday, when Saint Louis plays the Packers in Green Bay. Jackson missed most of the regular season opener, and all of the second-and-third games with a strained quadriceps muscle. The Rams are coming off their bye week, and that certainly helped the 28-year-old Jackson. He’s averaging almost five-and-a-half yards on 23 carries. And Jackson is an improvement over Cadillac Williams – who averages four yards on 50 carries in the Rams’ backfield. After a stellar rookie season, quarterback Sam Bradford has slipped. He has completed just under half his passes, with three touchdowns and an interception. And Bradford ranks 31st with a passer rating of 70-point-eight. He’ll face a Green Bay defense that’s 29th in the league in the number of passing yards it gives up. But the Packer offense has overpowered its opponents, especially in the second half. And the defending Super Bowl champions are 5-0, while the Rams are off to an 0-4 start.

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Green Bay Packers’ right tackle Bryan Bulaga returned to practice today, for the first time since he bruised his left knee in Chicago two-and-a-half weeks ago. Bulaga was wearing a brace on the knee during the portion of the workout that was open to reporters. Tight end Andrew Quarless was also back. Safety Nick Collins – who suffered a severe neck injury in Week-Two against Carolina – was put on injured reserve today, meaning he’s officially out for the year. Offensive guard-and-tackle Ray Dominguez was promoted from the Green Bay practice squad to the 53-man roster. That move was apparently to provide depth after the hamstring injury to veteran left tackle Chad Clifton – who’s out indefinitely after getting hurt last Sunday night at Atlanta.

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Former Major League pitcher Cy Buker – who lived in Greenwood in central Wisconsin – has died at age 92. He pitched in organized baseball from 1940-to-’52. And he spent the 1945 season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, when he went 7-2 with a three-point-two-three ERA. Buker pitched for the Dodgers’ farm club in Montreal in 1946 when Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and broke into the game with that club. Buker retired after the ’52 season. He became a high school baseball, football, and basketball coach – primarily at Greenwood and Loyal, both in Clark County. He was a member of the Wisconsin Baseball and Football Coaches Associations’ Halls-of-Fame, along with the Central Wisconsin Baseball Hall-of-Fame.

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Saint Norbert College of De Pere is Number-One in the Division-Three pre-season men’s hockey poll from U.S. College Hockey Online. The Green Knights won the NCAA Division-Three title last spring, and they received 16-of-the-20 first-place votes in the season-opening poll. Oswego of New York State is second, and Norwich of Connecticut is third. UW-Superior is ninth and Milwaukee Engineering 14th. UW-Stout, Eau Claire, and River Falls also received votes but did not make the Top-15. The Division-Three pre-season women’s poll was not out as of mid-day. In the opening Division-One men’s poll, Wisconsin dropped one place to 18th. The Badgers are 1-1 after the opening weekend of play. Boston College replaced pre-season favorite Notre Dame atop the poll.

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Joseph Paul of Concordia-Mequon and Tony Faller of Lakeland College have been named the Northern Athletics Conference football players-of-the-week. Paul, a sophomore running back, had 225 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries in Concordia’s win over Maranatha Baptist. Faller two tackles for losses including an 18-yard sack in Lakeland’s 32-nothing rout of Rockford. He also had an interception, three pass break-ups, and a blocked punt. The NAC special teams’ award went to John Borsellino of Benedictine, who returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. Also, Brent Quade of Madison Edgewood was named the NAC men’s golfer-of-the-week, after shooting an apparent school-record low 67 at the MSOE Invitational. The league also recognized Luke Peltonen of Marian in men’s soccer – Kaitlyn Strehlow of Wisconsin Lutheran in women’s tennis – and Grant Mickesh and Annie Propson of Edgewood in cross country.

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Saint Norbert College has swept the Midwest Conference weekly awards in volleyball. Junior Danielle Remy was named the performer-of-the-week on offense, while her junior teammate Catherine Guido received the same honors on defense. Remy helped Saint Norbert beat UW-Oshkosh for the first time since 1993. She hit .277 in four matches with 39 kills and 16 blocks. Guido had 87 digs in 13 sets, averaging just over six-and-two-thirds’ digs per game. Also, the Midwest Conference recognized Callie Schroeder of Saint Norbert in women’s tennis – and A.J. Thew and Michelle Matter, both of Ripon College, in cross country.

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