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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The suspension-ravaged Wisconsin Badgers
aren't running away from anybody.
Michael Bennett is, however.
The Big Ten sprint champion who bypassed a spot in the Olympics
so he could play football this fall rushed for 290 yards on 28
carries and scored two long touchdowns as Wisconsin
outlasted Oregon 27-23 on Saturday.
Wisconsin (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) got three interceptions from star cornerback Jamar
Fletcher, whom coach Barry Alvarez had considered sitting out.
As it was, the Badgers (2-0) had to do without a dozen players
who were suspended for receiving unadvertised discounts at a shoe
store.
For two more weeks, against Cincinnati and Northwestern, the
Badgers will be missing key components -- including Fletcher -- of a
team that hopes to contend for the national title.
Alvarez got to choose which players had to sit out Saturday and
he selected four starters, including cornerback Mike Echols, whose
substitute, B.J. Tucker, was repeatedly burned by the Ducks (1-1),
especially Marshaun Tucker, whose six catches covered 196 yards.
Alvarez criticized the NCAA for not hearing his appeal of
Echols' one-game suspension in a timely manner.
"I guess the NCAA must shut its doors at 5 o'clock on Friday,"
Alvarez fumed. "They couldn't make their decision and had to go to
committee. And the committee's not around until Monday.
"After dealing with them this week, I'm not confident in
anything that they do. Anything. I have no confidence in them. I
don't have any confidence in them whatsoever because i don't know
that they understand kids or care about kids."
But Fletcher and Bennett kept the Badgers' title hopes alive.
Bennett, held to 32 yards in the first half, scored on runs of
59 and 75 yards in the third quarter and set up another TD with a
career-long 83-yard burst with 5½ minutes left in the game.
Oregon had just taken a 23-20 lead on linebacker Matt Smith's
47-yard interception return -- Wisconsin's first turnover in five
games -- when Bennett ran off left guard and didn't stop until
Rashad Bauman dragged him down by the face mask at the 1.
Brooks Bollinger, 10-0 as a starter, scored on a keeper on the
next play to cap the scoring in a wild second half that had three
lead changes.
"I just tried to put that out of my mind," Bollinger said of
his first pickoff in 150 passes. "There was no doubt in my mind we
were going to go down and score -- and maybe come up with a huge
play to make it a little easier."
Bennett's 290 yards on 28 carries is the fourth-best in school
history. Only Ron Dayne, whom he replaced, and Billy Marek ever did
better.
"He may have just grown up to be a great running back,"
Alvarez said.
Bennett said was intent on imitating last year's Heisman winner.
"I wanted to be able to carry this team like Ron did and just
be a playmaker," Bennett said.
Quarterback Joey Harrington, who lost for the first time in six
games as Oregon's starter, was victimized by several drops,
including two on the Ducks' desperation drive that ended when
Fletcher picked off a fourth-down pass at his 11 with 11 seconds
left.
Harrington, who completed 22 of 49 passes for 362 yards, hit
Marshaun Tucker with a 71-yard completion against B.J. Tucker and
found LaCorey Collins for a 17-yard TD connection on the next play
that pulled the Ducks to 20-16 late in the third quarter.
Wisconsin, which barely beat Western Michigan in its opener just
three hours after the NCAA handed down 26 suspensions ranging from
one to three games, trailed 6-0 at halftime.
But Bennett was just warming up.
He sprinted around left end and ran 59 yards untouched for a
touchdown that gave Wisconsin a 7-6 lead three minutes into the
third quarter.
Linebacker Ryan Marks burst through the line, blocked punter
Kurtis Doerr's punt at the goal line and fell on it in the end zone
for a touchdown and a 14-6 Badgers lead.
Two plays after Josh Frankel's third field goal, a 42-yarder,
made it 14-9, Bennett broke a tackle in the backfield and rumbled
75 yards for his second touchdown and a 20-9 lead.
"We knew what he was capable of doing," Ducks coach Mike
Bellotti said. "We had him pretty much in check in the first half.
He's capable, anytime he gets a step, of going all the way. We
missed tackles and had unblocked people in the hole who missed or
he made them miss. He's not a good back, but a great back."
Fletcher said he approached his coaching staff last week and
asked to play against the Ducks.
"I'm not overlooking Cincinnati or Northwestern, but I just
felt that Oregon was a tough team, especially on offense," said
Fletcher, who also took a couple snaps at wide receiver with Nick
Davis and Chris Chambers serving their suspensions.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Oregon Clubhouse
Wisconsin Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Wisconsin's Michael Bennett rumbles 75 yards for his second TD of the game against Oregon. (Courtesy:ABC)
avi: 1030 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Wisconsin's Ryan Marks blocks the punt by Kurtis Doerr and recovers it in the end zone for the TD.(Courtesy:ABC)
avi: 1002 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Wisconsin's Michael Bennett burns up the field on this 59-yard TD.(Courtesy:ABC)
avi: 964 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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