Big Ten football roundup: Wisconsin

(First in a series on Big Ten football during spring practice)

No team in recent memory ran roughshod over the Big Ten quite like Wisconsin did last fall.

The Badgers steamrolled to a 45.2 point-per-game average, the second-highest in league history, en route to a Rose Bowl berth. Wisconsin buried its last three league opponents - Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern - by an average of 67 points and was within four yards of having three players rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

But following a frustrating 21-19 Rose Bowl loss to unbeaten TCU, the Badgers have several key players to replace. On offense, Wisconsin loses effective quarterback Scott Tolzien, power linemen Gabe Carimi and Jon Moffitt, all-Big Ten tight end Lance Kendricks and 2009 league MVP John Clay. Defensively, the Badgers lose likely first-round pick defensive end J.J. Watt and strong safety Jay Valai.

The Badgers will be able to plug in key contributors at some of the positions -

 like at running back and offensive line. But not at quarterback, where Tolzien managed the game to precision. Tolzien completed a Big Ten-record 72.9 percent of his passes for 16 touchdowns (six interceptions) and 2,459 yards. Sophomore Jon Budmayr has first crack at replacing Tolzien and junior Curt Phillips may also figure in that race.

Budmayr completed 8-of-10 passes in three games last fall. Phillips saw action in five games in 2009 but did not play last year with knee problems..

"One of the things (Budmayr has) benefited from, this is actually his third spring," Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema said. "He came in as a high school senior early in the graduation process, entered school in January. That is really beneficial for him now in a year where he could potentially be the starter.

"(Phillips) has had some knee issues since he's been here. If all goes well, he'll be back with us in the fall and could provide some competition there."

Replacing Watt on defense is a more difficult chore. Watt had 21 tackles for loss and was a second-team All-American. He had eight passes defensed and blocked three kicks, including an extra point in a 31-30 win at Iowa.

"You always are worried about production," Bielema said. "J.J. made a lot of really good plays for us. We have some core guys coming back up front. To have (defensive tackle) Patrick Butrym playing the way he is right now has been a great leader for us up front. At the linebacker position, Mike Taylor has done a great job for us. We'll have Chris Borland returning for us in the fall.

"In the back end, a guy that has been a rock in our program, Aaron Henry, has done a nice job of building those guys during the winter when the coaches weren't around."

Henry, a senior, returned two interceptions for touchdowns last year and was named second-team all-Big Ten. He has a ways to go to replace Valai as the secondary's primary spokesman, but he has accepted the position group's leadership role.

"I think I have some really, really good characteristics of becoming a leader," Henry said. "Just being a spokesman on the back end, it all evolves around me making plays. With the more plays that I make, the more people are willing and going to listen to me.

"Just like J.J. Watt last year, I don't think none of us would have believed him if he didn't make any plays. Because he played at a high level, he commanded so much more attention."

The Badgers return two running backs who combined for more than 2,000 yards but neither one were considered a "starter." John Clay (1,012 yards) left early for the NFL, but sophomore James White (1,052 yards) and junior Montee Ball (996 yards) provide. 

 WISCONSIN BADGERS

• Division:  Leaders
• 2010 record: 11-2, 7-1 Big Ten (lost 21-19 to TCU in Rose Bowl)
• Returning offensive starters (5): WR Nick Toon, TE Jake Byrne, C Peter Konz, RG Kevin Zeitler, RT Ricky Wagner
• Returning defensive starters (6): DE Louis Nzegwu, DT Patrick Butrym, DT Jordan Kohout, OLB Mike Taylor, FS Aaron Henry, CB Antonio Fenelus
• 2010 review: Wisconsin won 11 games for just the third time in school history and advanced to its seventh Rose Bowl in school history. The Badgers rolled up a school-record 45.2 points a game, second-most in Big Ten history (Penn State 48.1 in 1994). After losing the Big Ten opener at Michigan State, the Badgers won its next seven league games boasting epic wins against then-No. 1 Ohio State (31-18) and longtime rival Iowa (31-30). Wisconsin averaged 67 points a game in its final three Big Ten games in wins against Indiana, Michigan and Northwestern. The Badgers graduated three trophy winners (LT Gabe Carimi [Outland], QB Scott Tolzien [Unitas] and DE J.J. Lott [Watt].
• 2011 schedule: S1 UNLV; S10 Oregon State; S17 vs. Northern Illinois (Soldier Field); S24 South Dakota; O1 Nebraska; O15 Indiana; O22 at Michigan State; O29 at Ohio State; N5 Purdue; N12 at Minnesota; N19 at Illinois; N26 Penn State
• Noteworthy: Wisconsin won't play Iowa for only the third time in 75 years this fall. With its 31-30 win at Kinnick Stadium last fall, Wisconsin will hold the Heartland Trophy until 2013, unless the schools meet in the inaugural Big Ten title game. The Iowa-Wisconsin series is tied 42-42-4. 
• Quotable: “I'm really excited for the buildup in the race for the championship game, to be able to have that to look forward to for the end of the year. When I was at Kansas State, we lost two games early in the schedule, went on to run the rest of our conference record, ended up in a Big 12 championship game against an undefeated No. 1 team in the country, Oklahoma, we beat them handily, 35-7, put us in a BCS game, did a nice thing to flavor up our season..” - Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema