2011 SEASON IN REVIEW S
ports Illustrated's Andy Staples put a lyrical spin on his preseason Top 25 by ranking each team with a corresponding musical group. Staples had Oregon ranked No. 3 and suggested that if head coach Chip
Kelly "wanted to match the beats per minute of his breakneck offense" then he would "fire up the Ramones."
The Ramones were the precursor to punk rock.
Opined Staples, "The Ducks and Ramones agree on one thing: pure speed." Meanwhile, the Badgers were ranked No. 13 in the SI.com preseason poll. Their musical link? AC/DC. With the graduation of quarterback Scott Tolzien, who helped lead the UW to a share
of the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl, this was a team without a "dynamic frontman" according to Staples. The actual reference was to Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott whose death in 1980 left AC/ DC without a proven signalcaller -- or lead singer and lyricist. "Enter Russell Wilson in the Brian Johnson role," Staples wrote. Johnson replaced Scott and AC/DC went on to record "Back in Black" -- a mega-suc-
cess. Concluded Staples, "It may be Wilson who gets the Badgers back to the Rose Bowl." Hells Bells, he nailed it.
So did Matt Hayes of The Sporting News.
The Badgers were ranked No. 25 in the preseason magazine. That was before Wilson made his decision to attend Wisconsin. After Wilson opted for the Badgers, Hayes bumped the UW to No. 10 in the country. "Wilson is an elite quarterback," Hayes said. "I don't think people realize how good this kid is." They do now.
How long did it take for his UW teammates to figure that out? "I knew that he was special after the first time I threw with him," Nick Toon said. That was in July shortly after Wilson arrived on campus. One of their first throwing sessions was mem- orable, too.
"We had just got done throwing and we were messing around," Toon recalled. "Russell said, 'Watch this.' "He was probably on the 30-yard line and he hit the crossbar with a throw. "From there on out, I was sold."
22 ยป VARSITY DECEMBER 22, 2011 Besides Tolzien, the Badgers also had to re-
place three All-Americans on offense: left tackle Gabe Carimi, the Outland Trophy winner; left guard John Moffitt; and tight end Lance Kend- ricks.
The loss of tailback John Clay was tempered with the return of Montee Ball and James White. On defense, there was simply no replacing de- fensive end J.J. Watt. "Obviously some key guys left, but that's part of college football," Toon said. "But we also had some key guys coming back." (That included Toon, who was hoping to bounce back after an injury-riddled junior sea-
