YEAR IN REVIEW
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Montee Ball is back. The reason he's returning for his senior season has as much to do with what the Badgers accomplished in 2011 as anything else.
BY MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM A
fter catching 24 passes last season, just one fewer than he had caught in his first two seasons combined, Montee Ball has gained a greater appreciation for the "throwing game'' and his role in it.
On this particular morning last week, the UW tailback had just finished playing catch with quarterback Danny O'Brien, the Maryland transfer. "He's really an accurate passer,'' Ball observed. O'Brien has been taking part in the summer conditioning phase of the Badgers' out of season training program since arriving on cam- pus in early June. He's already left an impression on Ball, too. "It's going good,'' Ball said of O'Brien's orientation to his teammates and a new college football environment. "He picked the right place. He's molding with us perfectly.'' Ball has not felt the necessity to have "that little talk'' with O'Brien about Russell Wilson or the situation that he has walked into with the Badgers, who have played in back-to-back Rose Bowls. "I haven't talked to him about that,'' Ball said of the inevitable comparisons. "He's a grown man. I'm sure he understands that, no matter what, he'll be critiqued for what he does. "And I'm sure he understands he has big shoes to fill; I guess you could say that. But people aren't expecting him to be like Russell. Honestly, we just want Danny to play his best, to play his game.''
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