By David MorrisonThe Daily Northwestern
MADISON, Wis. – The last time Brendan Smith saw Wisconsin running back P.J. Hill. Smith was a New Hampshire high school quarterback, and Hill was a 5-foot-11, 220-pound bruiser.
Two years and 22 pounds of muscle later, Hill’s still a bruiser. And he greeted Smith, now Northwestern’s starting strong safety, with a bang.
In Wisconsin’s first play of the second quarter, Hill took the ball up the gut and delivered a shot to Smith’s chops on his way to a nine-yard gain.
“He got me good,” Smith said. “I was coming across the middle, and I wasn’t low enough.”
But Hill was an equal-opportunity punisher in the Badgers’ 41-9 win Saturday, torching the Wildcats’ defense for 249 yards on 35 carries.
It was Hill’s highest output this season and the most rushing yards NU has given up to a single player since Penn State’s Larry Johnson put up 257 in a 49-0 win in October 2002.
The Wisconsin back’s performance didn’t take the Cats by surprise: Hill was ranked ninth in the nation in rushing yards per game heading into the contest and Fitzgerald said stopping Hill was one of the defense’s top priorities.
“He’s a big, strong guy who runs very physical and runs behind a very strong offensive line,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t think we won the battle up front. And when you don’t do that and don’t tackle very well, it’s a recipe for disaster.”
Hill made his presence known by the second play from scrimmage when he took the handoff, hesitated and burst through a hole in the right side of the line, streaking down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown.
The Badgers ran the ball 48 times for 307 yards, keeping the Cats’ defense on the field for more than 37 minutes.
“It’s an 11-man operation and we weren’t able to control the line of scrimmage,” Fitzgerald said.
Much of the effectiveness of Wisconsin’s rushing attack, which averaged 163 yards per game coming into Saturday, came from its blocking. The Badgers’ offensive line averaged 319 pounds, 35 pounds heavier than the Cats’ front four, and featured senior tackle Joe Thomas, who is on the watch list for the Lombardi Award and the Outland Trophy.
“We were trying to get off the ball quickly,” redshirt freshman defensive tackle Adam Hahn said, “and get into them before they could move us. We thought we were a lot quicker up front.”
In its first three contests, NU gave up 94 rushing yards per game. The story has been different the last three weeks, as the Cats’ average has spiked to 232.
The Cats’ last three opponents have used a healthy running game to possess the ball for nearly 10 more minutes a game than NU’s offense.
“I feel like we’re a really well-conditioned team,” Smith said. “But we should help the offense and get off the field so they can be on it more.”
Reach David Morrison at [email protected].
