Badgers bring it

Wisconsin overpowers Hawaii, and the Warriors are left with a losing season

Opportunity knocks only a dozen times during football season. If you don't answer, it ends up knocking you down.

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan knows the Warriors had their chances against No. 24 Wisconsin yesterday at Aloha Stadium, and that makes UH's 41-24 loss all the more frustrating to him, his teammates and coaches.

"It's been kind of like the theme of our season," Brennan said after he passed for 403 yards and three touchdowns, but was also intercepted once and sacked five times. "We struggled. We did some good things, but obviously not enough to win. Sometimes I'm just trying too hard. You just have to go out and play and let everything ride."

A turnstile crowd of 29,088 (34,031 tickets issued) saw Wisconsin (9-3) dominate, but often because of Hawaii mistakes.

"Here's a big story, shooting yourself in the foot," emotional senior outside linebacker Tanuvasa Moe said. "I don't think they're No. 24, but they beat us, so I can't talk."

The Warriors (4-7) -- guaranteed their first losing season since 2000 -- have one game left, a week from today at home against San Diego State. Wisconsin goes on to a bowl game.

UH coach June Jones lamented his team's eight penalties for 74 yards, two second-half turnovers that led to 10 Wisconsin points and other errors.

"We seemed to play not as smart as we needed to play to win," he said. "We had a lot of stupid penalties and turnovers that really hurt us. We had sacks that killed drives."

Wisconsin led throughout, but Hawaii was in the game until a couple of deflating plays in the second half.

The Warriors closed the score to 27-17 on Brennan's 8-yard pass to Davone Bess. Their second scoring connection came with 8:08 remaining in the third quarter -- plenty of time left.

But Wisconsin expanded the lead to 34-17 on the next drive, and the way the Badgers did it was disheartening for UH. Quarterback John Stocco ran all alone on a naked bootleg for a 1-yard score on fourth down. After faking a handoff left, he ran right, alone into the end zone.

What made it worse was that Warriors defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville had anticipated the play and said he called a defense to stop it. But the players tasked with covering the right fell for the fake to the left.

Moe said it represented a "huge momentum change."

"A mistake on the goal line. It may have been me, we have to see the tape," Moe said. "All I know is we can't have that (mess)."

"Unfortunately we did not execute to stop that play," Glanville said. "You make a mental error and the teacher doesn't get it taught, that's an F for the teacher."

The Badgers -- and Stocco in particular -- deserved an A. He also passed for two touchdowns to Jonathan Orr while completing 12 of 16 for 191 yards. Meanwhile, running back Brian Calhoun, the centerpiece of the Wisconsin offense, rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown.

Wisconsin took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Calhoun swept left for a 10-yard touchdown run, holding the ball over the goal line with his extended left hand before he could be knocked down.

Passes from Stocco to Owen Daniels for 11 yards and Brandon Williams for 38 helped loosen up UH's keying on Calhoun during the seven-play, 77-yard drive.

Hawaii tied it with a 3-yard pass from Brennan to Bess after two power gains by Nate Ilaoa -- a 19-yard run in which he exploded through a pile of defenders and a 12-yard gain on a shovel pass. Brennan's scramble and 12-yard completion to Ryan Grice-Mullen and his 23-yard pass to Jordan Slye also contributed.

Grice-Mullen caught 11 passes for 139 yards, joining Bess to complete UH's first 1,000-yard receiving duo in one season.

Stocco completed a 23-yard TD pass to Orr, who made the catch despite being interfered with by cornerback Kenny Patton. Wisconsin led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Badgers stretched the lead to 17-7 in the second, when Taylor Mehlhaff made a 24-yard field goal. Calhoun put Wisconsin in scoring position with a 38-yard run.

Stocco found Orr again, this time for a 17-yard touchdown pass, and UW led 24-7 at 2:18 before halftime.

UH's Dan Kelly, who early missed a field goal try from 46 yards, hit from 42 with 17 seconds left in the first half. Hawaii drove to the Wisconsin 17, but was pushed back by the Badgers' third sack of the half.

Defensive tackle Nick Hayden recovered a fumble by Brennan at the UH 8 on the opening series of the second half. Mehlhaff hit a 24-yard field goal to make the score 27-10.

On the series after UH's failed goal-line stand, the Badgers took advantage of another turnover when Booker Stanley rushed 6 yards for a touchdown with 8:56 left in the game, icing it at 41-17. Dontez Sanders set up the score with an interception of Brennan at the Hawaii 41 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Three plays before the pick, Bess left the game with a lower back bruise after he was called for pass interference on what at first appeared to be a tremendous catch in Wisconsin territory.

"Today was just one of them days again," Bess said. "Certain times we could get it clicking, certain other times we couldn't get it clicking. I think a lot of it has to do with experience. The more we experience situations like this, the better we'll be in the future."

Brennan hit Aaron Bain with a 6-yard TD pass to complete the scoring.

Hawaii outgained Wisconsin 446 yards to 440, but the Badgers proved better at just about everything else needed to win the game.

"They're going to move the ball on anyone," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said. "It's about points."

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