Before Scott Tolzien and Russell Wilson made it cool for Wisconsin quarterbacks to wear No. 16 and before Jeff Duckworth could make his mark as a one shot wonder, a little-known quarterback came from the bench to lead the Badgers to one of the biggest wins in school history in 2003.
Matt Schabert, a heralded recruit from Larkin HS in Illinois, expected to be a contributor at Wisconsin. Schabert was a regional All-America choice by SuperPrep. He was a consensus all-state pick his senior season and graduated with the fourth most passing yards and third most passing touchdowns in state history. He decided to go to Wisconsin and join high school teammate Travann Hayes.
He reshirted in 2000 with Wisconsin already set at quarterback with sophomore Brooks Bollinger. He saw his first action as a freshman in Wisconsin's 42-28 loss to Michigan State. His first pass was a 70-yard touchdown to star wide receiver Lee Evans and went onto go 10-of-18 for 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns. When Bollinger graduated in 2002, Schabert lost the starting job in camp to favorite, senior Jim Sorgi. The senior had played in a number of games in his first three years in Madison and no one was surprised when he beat out Schabert for the starting nod.
As a junior, Shabert saw limited action through the first six games, playing in just two, going just 2-of-6 for 17 yards.
That all changed on the night of Oct. 11, 2003, as he etched his name into Wisconsin Badger history.
What started as a warm, humid day in Madison turned into a rainstorm by the time the ball was kicked off as No. 22 Wisconsin welcomed the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes into Camp Randall. Ohio State was the defending national champions and proud owners of a 19-game winning streak. The Buckeyes returned several key contributors from the championship team, including quarterback Craig Krenzel, wide receiver Michael Jenkins and cornerback Chris Gamble.
Gone was star running back Maurice Clarett, who had a battle with the NFL as he wanted to put his name into the draft, but was not yet three years removed from high school. Clarett not only did not make it in the NFL, but has had repeated run-ins with the law.
Ohio State was undefeated at 5-0, and coming off a bye week. It had been tested early in the season, winning three by one score, including a 44-38 victory against North Carolina State in triple overtime. Wisconsin, on the other hand, had its share of struggles, specifically on the defensive side of the football. After an impressive 24-17 comeback win at West Virginia, Wisconsin came home and struggled to beat Akron and had an embarrassing 23-5 loss to UNLV. The Badgers then rebounded to win three straight, including two straight to start the Big Ten season to enter the titanic matchup at 5-1. Wisconsin was also looking for revenge after Ohio State came into Camp Randall Stadium and beat Wisconsin 19-14 on its way to the championship in 2002.
The weekend itself had great matchups. A big conference matchup between Michigan and Minnesota was moved to that Friday to avoid a potential conflict with the Minnesota Twins, and Michigan outscored Minnesota 31-7 in the fourth quarter to cap a miraculous comeback and win 38-35. There were two matchups between top ten teams (Miami/Florida State and Oklahoma/Texas) and Georgia played Tennessee in Knoxville.
On a rainy night, Wisconsin was looking to once again, end a long winning streak. In 1995, Wisconsin ended Penn State's 20-game winning streak with a 17-9 win in State College. It had to try to break Ohio State's steak, though, without standout running back Anthony Davis, who was recovering from a fractured eye socket.
After reaching the Ohio State 32-yard line on its opening possession, Wisconsin had to punt, sandwiched in between two three and outs by the Buckeyes. On its second possession, Wisconsin scored on the first play of the second quarter on a 2-yard run by Booker Stanley to put the Badgers on the board first.
Midway through the second period, the usually sure-handed Jim Leonhard muffed a punt, which led to an Ohio State field goal and the Badgers led 7-3 at the end of the half.
In the third quarter, Wisconsin faced a fourth down and two at its own 9-yard line. Ohio State was looking to get great field position, but R.J. Morse boomed a punt to Gamble, who muffed the punt and Wisconsin recovered it at the 39-yard line of the Buckeyes.
After a first down, Stanley was stopped for a loss of five on two carries to face a third down and 15 from the Ohio State 28.
On the play, Sorgi found no one open, so he decided to take off. Sorgi ran down to the 20-yard line to force a field goal.
After the play, with Sorgi still on the ground, there was a pile-up, which included a number of players from each team, including Donovan Raiola and A.J. Hawk. Ohio State linebacker Robert Reynolds grabbed Sorgi's throat, which bruised his vocal cords. Sorgi had a hard time breathing and was not able to talk, so he could not call plays. He was not able to come back into the game, so enter the backup quarterback. Enter Schabert.
Mike Allen made the field goal to put the Badgers back on top by a touchdown, but Wisconsin had to hold on for dear life knowing it had a backup quaterback in the game.
The defense did just that, holding Ohio State without a touchdown for nearly 54 minutes of the game. But Ohio State woke up seemingly just in time. Krenzel found Drew Carter for a 46-yard pass down inside the Wisconsin 10. Two plays later, Krenzel found Jenkins to tie up the game. And suddenly, Schabert needed to win the game instead of just not lose it.
Wisconsin started the next possession on its own 20-yard line line. After gaining one yard on first down, it was time for Schabert to make a play. In two possessions since entering the game, Schabert had thrown just two passes.
The play call was "56 Jerk." All-American wide receiver Lee Evans had not caught one pass all night. Earlier in the season, offensive coordinator Brian White called that same play. After a big fourth down stop against Akron, preserving a 34-31 lead, White called that same play. Backed up to his own one, Sorgi went back to pass in his end zone and threw it to Evans, who caught it in stride and raced to the end zone for a 99-yard touchdown.
Evans was matched up against Gamble, a fellow future first round pick and had been shut out. Gamble expected Wisconsin to play it conservatively, and expected Wisconsin to throw it short to try to move the ball. The last thing he thought Wisconsin would do is throw it deep. And White knew it.
Schabert came up to the line of scrimmage and Ohio State showed blitz. Ohio State brought pressure, but Wisconsin picked up the blitz. Evans went on an out route and Gamble jumped the route, only to have Evans blow right past him. Schabert threw a nice pass to the wide open Evans, who caught it and ran the rest of the way for the 79-yard touchdown giving the Badgers a 17-10 lead with 5:20 left.
Forced with a third and two from its own 14-yard line, Wisconsin needed a play to keep the drive alive. Schabert's number was called once again.
Ohio State stacked the box to stop Stanley, but White called Schabert's number. He ran a bootleg and the Buckeye defense was fooled. He ran five yards for the first down.
Two plays later, Stanley rushed for 24 yards to seal the game and to give Wisconsin its first win against a top five team since a 12-7 win in Columbus against No. 3 Ohio State in November 1985.
In 2005, Wisconsin color commentator Mike Lucas had a book published entitled "The Top 25 Moments in Camp Randall History" and this moment ranked No. 8 in the storied history of Wisconsin football.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin and Schabert could not continue the momentum. Schabert struggled in his only start, a 16-7 loss at Northwestern and struggled even more in the loss to Iowa to end the year, once again in relief of Sorgi. He just completed four passes in 11 attempts for just 49 yards and threw three interceptions against the Hawkeyes. As a team, Wisconsin lost three straight by a combined 15 points and five of its last six to end the season after the big win against Ohio State. It was a disappointing end to a once promising season.
The following year, as a senior, Schabert was beaten out for the starting job by sophomore John Stocco and he transferred to Eastern Illinois, where he played his final season.
He may not have had the career he was hoping for, but the impact Schabert has had on Wisconsin football is still felt today.
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