26. Wisconsin 56, Bowling Green 42 (2005)

Wisconsin was not sure how good the running game would be entering the 2005 season. Gone was one of the leading rushers in program history, Anthony Davis. Trying to replace him would be no easy task, but the Badgers were confident that Brian Calhoun, a transfer from Colorado, would be up to the challenge. All Calhoun did was have the greatest debut in the history of Wisconsin Badgers football, rushing for 258 yards and five touchdowns. The game was also memorable because it was the last opener in the career of legendary coach, Barry Alvarez, who had announced prior to the season that the 2005 season would be his last.

Bowling Green was a really talented team, led by quarterback Omar Jacobs, who was one of the preseason favorites to be in New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation. His skills were on display early on in the 2005 opener. He would lead Bowling Green to three touchdowns on its first three possessions. The first touchdown came on a pass to Corey Partridge from 16 yards out to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead. The Patridge score capped off a drive of 10 plays, covering 80 yards. Jacobs was 5-5 for 43 yards and the touchdown on the drive. On the day, he would throw for an astonishing 458 yards and five touchdowns.

After the Wisconsin offense went three-and-out, Bowling Green’s offense went back to work. This time it was B.J. Lane on the receiving end of a Jacobs touchdown pass. Jacobs only threw one incompletion on the drive and the Falcons took a 13-0 lead. He threw for another 55 yards and it looked like the Falcons were going to run away with the game.

Wisconsin put together a much-needed scoring drive on its next possession. On a 3rd-and-8 from his own 26, quarterback John Stocco went back to pass before tucking it and running. He would get the first down to the 39, but was blasted in the process. Calhoun rushed for 40 yards on the next three plays before Stocco went to the air for the first time on the drive and connected with Jonathan Orr for the 21-yard score to cut it to 13-7.

But Bowling Green had an answer. On the second play from scrimmage on the next drive, Jacobs found Steve Sanders for a 63-yard score and the Falcons took back the 13-point lead.

Wisconsin was able to respond in the shootout, though. On the ensuing kickoff, Brandon Williams returned it 85 yards, down to the Bowling Green 8. The Badgers needed only one play to cash in on the great starting field position, as Matt Bernstein rumbled in from eight yards and it was back to a one score game. That momentum-turning kickoff return would end up being the Pontiac Game-Changing Performance of the week.

After Wisconsin was finally able to get a pair of stops, the Badgers offense was looking to cash in. After forcing a Bowling Green punt the first time, Stocco threw a pick on the first play of the drive to thwart the Badgers threat. On this particular drive, Bucky had tremendous starting field position once again, starting at the Falcons 45. Wisconsin would run Calhoun on five of the six plays of the possession. The Badgers were facing a 4th-and-1 from the Bowling Green 20 and Alvarez decided to go for it. With Calhoun running well, he decided to give the ball to him again. He found a hole and blasted through it, running 20 yards for the score. Mehlhaff’s kick was good and Wisconsin took a 21-20 lead, its first of the day.

The Badgers were able to force another Falcons punt, and Bucky’s offense went back to work. Stocco found Calhoun on a pass for 39 yards, which set up another Calhoun rushing touchdown and Wisconsin led 28-20.

Just when you thought Bowling Green was on the verge of being out of it, Jacobs led his troops down the field once again. The Falcons used a pass from Jacobs to Charles Sharon of 32 yards to move to the Wisconsin 5, where B.J. Lane would carry it in. Jacobs found Patridge in the end zone for the two-point conversion and it was 28-28.

The shootout continued throughout the half. The Badgers offense blew down the field once more, getting nice yardage from Calhoun on runs and a pass to Williams to move down the field, where Calhoun scored his third of the day, a 5-yard run to make it 35-28 with less than a minute to play in the first half.

The craziness continued on the next drive, as Bowling Green was able to tie it back up heading into halftime. In a half minute, Jacobs was able to drive his team 83 yards for the tying score. Bowling Green used a 45-yard pass from Jacobs to Partridge to set the Falcons up deep in Badgers territory. The drive ended on a pass from Jacobs to Sanders from 10 yards out with four seconds left in the half and it was 35-35 at the break.

Okay, did you catch all that? Time to take a break after a combined 70 points were scored in the first half.

The second half started much like how the entire first half was. Wisconsin received the kickoff to start the third quarter and rolled down the field, with every yard on the ground. Calhoun rushed six times for 37 yards and Booker Stanley rushed twice for 29 yards on the drive, and Calhoun plowed in from a yard out for his fourth touchdown of the day and, more importantly, gave the Badgers the lead for good.

Wisconsin would score a touchdown on each of its first three possessions in the second half to turn the close game into a one-sided affair. Booker Stanley scored from 15 yards out and Calhoun rushed in from nine yards for his fifth and final one of the day and the Badgers opened up a 56-35 lead.

The Falcons would score once more to cut it to 56-42 and Levonne Rowan put an end to Bowling Green’s final drive by intercepting a Jacobs pass along the sideline and the Badgers sealed up a season opening win.

The expectations for the Badgers were not real high in 2005, but Wisconsin was able to finish 10-3, including a major upset in the Capital One Bowl against Auburn. There were many great moments during Alvarez’s final year and this was just the first.