Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - November 15, 2012

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While special, Senior Day not an ending BEHIND THE DESK BARRY ALVAREZ • UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS I list. If you want to be a running back, this is the place that you need to consider. Take a look around the country and see what people are doing. Do you want to carry the foot- ball? Do you want to play in an offense that prepares you to play in the NFL? This is where it is. We already have the NCAA's all- time leading rusher in Ron Dayne. And we're about to have the career touchdown leader in Montee Ball. That would be pretty special and something Bret and his coaching staff can play on for a long time as far as recruiting good running backs. Montee needs only two more touchdowns for the record. People know how I feel about such things. I've always wanted to break records in the context of a game — not when you're putting 60 points on somebody and beating them up. That's why I didn't want Montee to break the record last week. You want it to happen when you're play- ing against a good defense and a good team in a meaningful game. We have plenty of those games t used to be that if you were a quarterback, you wanted to be at Notre Dame. Linebacker? Penn State. Run- ning back? Southern Cal. You wanted to be there because they had so many great ones. You can add our name to that coming up — starting Saturday with Ohio State. I keep thinking back to when Montee was the third-string tail- back a few years ago. Obviously, he kept himself ready because in a tough road game at Iowa, he goes from No. 3 to the go- to-guy. He made clutch runs and catches that won the game for us. That seemed to build a fire under him. It has been a pleasure to see someone who has worked so hard in the off-season and continued to improve. What he has done over the last two years has been phe- nomenal. Quite frankly, the people at the next level saw what he could do last year and it hasn't changed. He didn't hurt himself. If anything, he's gotten better. Earlier this season, I'm sure if he was wondering if he made the right decision to come back for his senior year. But he's better off for having gone through it. Once you make that decision — whether you're Montee or Ronnie or Lee Evans or Joe Thomas — you don't look back or second-guess yourself. I'm sure it will be emotional Sat- urday for Montee, as it will be for all our seniors who will be playing for the final time at Camp Randall Stadium. These are all kids who came here and bought into the program and committed themselves to doing whatever was asked of them over the last four and five years. Mike Taylor is one of those seniors, and I've really enjoyed watching him play. I know that he has played through some injuries, especially early in his career. But you talk about a guy who's tough and plays linebacker the way you're supposed to play it. He's a sure-tackler and he has great range. You can tell he's a student of the game. He's very seri- ous, all business. You can see that. I really appreciate what he has done. Right now, I just want to see this team finish the year off in a positive manner after guaranteeing our- selves a spot in the Big Ten champi- onship game. Much has been said about the two schools that are ineligible, but everybody knew the rules go- ing into the season. Nothing has changed. Those are the rules. We have a nice football team. We've worked through more adver- sity than anyone could have antici- pated. We made a coaching change in the offensive line early in the season and we went through three starting quarterbacks. But we've still put ourselves in a position to get back to the Rose Bowl. Our guys have a chance — in a one-game deal — to go back for a third straight year. A lot of people would like to be in our position. 14 » VARSITY NOVEMBER 15, 2012

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