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BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PREVIEW
The Badgers were leading 14-0 and lost some of their momentum. There was another play from that loss that stood out for Wilson. Trailing 31-24 in the fourth quarter, Wilson tried to "force'' a pass on first-and-10 to his tight end Jacob Pedersen on the bound- ary and it was intercepted by Mich- igan State's Isaiah Lewis. "That was me trying to get some- thing where we really didn't have anything,'' Wilson said of the in- terception. "I overthrew him (Ped- ersen) by a step or two and they came up with a big play. "You never want to have an interception on
first down.'' The turnover wasn't costly because the UW defense forced a punt; a three-and-out. "But I'm very critical of myself,'' Wilson con- ceded. "I'm just trying to be perfect, I guess.'' There were a couple of plays that tailback Montee Ball would like to have back, too. "On one of my runs,'' Ball said, "instead of at- tacking the defender, instead of running right at him, I could have run around him. Coach (Thomas) Hammock made sure to talk to me about that.'' On a second down from the MSU 21, Ball got whacked by two tacklers and had to be helped off the field. On third-and-2, James White came up short and the Badgers had to settle for a field goal.
The kick was blocked which helped fuel the Spartans' 23-point second quarter explosion. "On that play that I got hit and I took myself
out,'' Ball said, "I wish I could have checked myself back in because the offense went down a little bit after that. "I want to be on the field all the time because
that's how much I love the game.'' Ball did return and was a key factor in Wis-
24 ยป VARSITY DECEMBER 1, 2011
"(Revenge) is in my vocabulary because I know the word,'' Wilson said with a wry grin. "But I don't use it too of- ten. I probably wouldn't ever use it to be hon- est with you.''
consin's fourth- quarter rally. During a Mon- day teleconference, Ball was asked if the Badgers were seek- ing revenge against the Spartans in Saturday's Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadi- um in Indianapolis. "I said it's about redemption,'' he countered,
"and
we're blessed to have another oppor- tunity.'' Ball later said, "This has been the hardest media day of the season.''
That's because everybody was seemingly hung up on the "revenge'' angle. Is revenge in Russell Wilson's vocabulary? "It's in my vocabulary because I know the
word,'' he said with a wry grin. "But I don't use it too often. I probably wouldn't ever use it to be honest with you.''
DAVID STLUKA
