College Football

Back in Shape

Wisconsin's title hopes rest on the shoulders of a leaner P.J. Hill, who led the Badgers to a Big Ten win over Iowa

IT TOOK NEARLY 45 minutes and a brief injury setback before it came together, but late in the third quarter against Iowa last Saturday night, Wisconsin tailback P.J. Hill pounded out the type of gritty, do-it-all drive Heisman campaigns are built on. It was a series that will inevitably spark further comparisons of Hill with former Badgers bruiser Ron Dayne. Hill hopes it was the type of career-defining performance that will end such tidy comparisons too.

Trailing 10--7 and sitting on its own 32-yard line as the third quarter expired, Wisconsin appeared at a loss against an Iowa defense that had come into the game ranked fifth in the nation and had been allowing just 2.1 yards per carry. The Badgers offense had sputtered, fumbling away a promising early opportunity and stringing together four three-and-outs. Meanwhile Hill, the 2006 Big Ten freshman of the year, had been held in check and had missed a portion of the quarter with a neck stinger. Wisconsin's Division I-A-best 12-game winning streak was in danger.

As most great backs do in these situations, Hill called for the ball. "I just took one look at [the coaches]," he said later. "They knew what to do." What they did was hand the ball to Hill on 10 of the Badgers' next 12 plays, which included pinballing rushes of seven, seven, eight and 12 yards, plus a punctuating two-yard TD plunge. It was the first rushing touchdown against the Hawkeyes this season and proved decisive in what would be a 17--13 Wisconsin win.

The physicality of Hill's 10-play assault understandably evoked memories of Dayne, who bulldozed his way to the Heisman in 1999. Hill, however, likes to point out that it's his new, very un-Dayne-like physique that enabled him to bring the pain late in the game. Hill, who stands only 5'11", lost almost 20 pounds (down from 242 to 225) during the off-season, and now he hopes to wear down defenses, rather than vice versa. Joked Hill, "I finally got to utilize my remodeled body."

Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema is fortunate to have such a hard-nosed back because before Saturday he appeared to have a suspect defense: In the 11-team Big Ten, the Badgers were ranked ninth in points allowed. Against The Citadel on Sept. 15, Hill scored three first-half touchdowns, and each was matched on the subsequent drive by a Bulldogs TD. Before that it took second-half offensive surges to fight off Washington State and UNLV. On Saturday the Badgers defense finally showed up, sacking Iowa's Jake Christensen four times and hurrying him into 20 incompletions on 37 attempts. But consider the opponent: Iowa is last in the Big Ten in every major offensive category.

"Our defense struggled the first few games, and the offense stepped up; today they struggled, and we stepped up," said linebacker Jonathan Casillas. "That's what teams do." Come Saturday, the Badgers would be better off if both stepped up: Undefeated Michigan State visits Camp Randall Stadium.

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