I mentioned that Fletcher made his debut against the Ducks. Well, he wasted little time making his presence known in the year 2000. On the third play of Oregon's opening drive, Harrington fired a pass to the right that was intercepted by the eventual Jim Thorpe Award winner. He returned it to the 22, but there was a holding penalty on the return and the Badgers started at the 32. Wisconsin would travel to the 26, but Vitaly Pisetsky’s 43-yard attempt sailed wide left and it remained scoreless.
It was a defensive game for the entire first half. Oregon’s Josh Frankel would hit two short field goals to put the Ducks in front 6-0 at the end of the first half. The second half would be just a tad more exciting.
Bennett had just 32 yards on 11 carries in the first half. He would explode in the second half. The explosion started on his third carry of the second half. With Wisconsin facing a 2nd-and-3 from its own 41, Brooks Bollinger handed the ball to Bennett, who found a hole and raced through it. The speedster would outrun everybody on the field to give the Badgers the 7-6 lead after the extra point was made.
Nearly five minutes later, Bucky would add to his lead. Oregon’s Kurtis Doerr was punting from his own end zone after the Badgers forced a three-and-out. But Wisconsin’s Ryan Marks would break through and not only block the punt, but recover it as well in the end zone. The blocked punt and recovery in the end zone put Bucky ahead 14-6 midway through the third quarter.
Oregon would drive down for a field goal on the next drive, but the Badgers had an answer. His name is Michael Bennett. Wisconsin started at its own 20 to begin the drive. Bennett gained five on first down. His next carry went to the house. Bollinger handed it off to Bennett, who eluded a defender in the backfield. He then raced up the field, bursting through a sliver of an opening. He broke a tackle at his own 40 and then there was nothing but turf in front of him. He outraced the Oregon defenders for a 75-yard score to put the Badgers in front 20-9. The two-point conversion attempt failed and the Badgers remained ahead by 11. It would stay that way the remainder of the quarter.
Despite starting the following drive inside its own 10, Oregon was able to respond quickly. It only took three plays for the Ducks to cut it to 20-16. Harrington found Marshaun Tucker for 71 yards down to the Wisconsin 17. On the following play, Harrington would throw a touchdown pass to LaCorey Collins. Oregon was whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play, which is the reason the Ducks did not attempt the two-point conversion.
Early in the final quarter, Oregon was on the move. The Ducks were facing a 2nd-and-5 at the Wisconsin 21, but Fletcher came through again. He picked off his second pass of the game, keeping his team in the lead.
Wisconsin had a chance to take command of the game, but Bollinger made a poor throw on third down with six minutes to go in the game. The Wisconsin quarterback did not see Oregon linebacker Matt Smith on the play and threw it and was picked off by Smith, who returned it 47 yards for the score and the Ducks had taken a 23-20 lead.
Bennett only needed a matter of seconds to change a game. If you gave him even a sliver of an opening, the speedy running back would make you pay. That is just what happened on the first play following the kickoff. Wisconsin started with the ball at the 16 after a short kickoff return by Bennett. However, he redeemed himself in a big way. On the first play of the drive, Bollinger handed the ball to Bennett, who eluded a defender at the 18 and found nothing but turf in front of him. Oregon stacked the line of scrimmage, and if Bennett was able to get past the initial wave of defenders, the play would go for huge yardage, considering his speed. Bennett raced down the field all the way to the 1, where an Oregon defender had an angle on him and brought him down. Bollinger ran it in on the quarterback sneak on the following play and the Badgers were back out in front.
Harrington would complete a 38-yard pass to Tucker to move into Badgers territory on the next possession, but Wisconsin would then force three consecutive incompletions and the punt. But the Ducks would get one more shot at the win. On a 4th-and-13, Harrington found Keenan Howry for 30 yards to the 47. However, that would be as far as the Ducks would get. Wendell Bryant would sack Harrington on second down, forcing a 3rd-and-17. After an incompletion, Harrington threw a pass over the middle that was overthrown. Guess who caught it? Yep, there was that man again. Fletcher had his third pick of the day in a triumphant beginning to his 2000 season.
The good times would not last, though, as Fletcher had to sit out the next two games, including a double overtime loss to Northwestern in the Big Ten opener. That started a slide for Wisconsin, which lost four of its first five Big Ten games before rebounding to win its last three Big Ten games and five overall to finish with a solid 9-4 record.
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