Wisconsin QB Wilson throws for 347 yards in rout of NIU
Players can't be traded in college football, so it's unusual for someone to go from starting quarterback at one major program to another in consecutive seasons.
Wisconsin transfer Russell Wilson has not only done that, he added a stint with the minor-league baseball Asheville (N.C.) Travelers in between.
Taking advantage of a lightly-used NCAA rule, Wilson earned his bachelor's degree in communications at North Carolina State, where he was a three-year starter, then moved to Wisconsin and became eligible immediately.
Wilson made his third start for the Badgers at Soldier Field on Saturday and threw for 347 yards as No. 7 Wisconsin posted a routine 49-7 victory before a crowd of 41,068.
The 5-foot-11 Wilson, a native of Richmond, Va., completed 23 of 32 passes and also scrambled for 3 first downs.
“Is he better than expected? I didn't know what to expect. I'd never been around him,” Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. “Obviously, God blessed him with a tremendous amount of athletic ability, but his mind is second to none. He just continues to think ahead of a play.”
Wilson, a second baseman in baseball, was also a fourth-round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies and his desire to play that sport was thought to be one reason N.C. State decided to go with a different starting quarterback in the spring, causing Wilson to look for a new school.
“It's a privilege to be the quarterback here,” he said after the game. “I feel like they're my family. We built a great relationship through the hard work we put in this summer and camp.”
Northern Illinois (1-2), which lost 45-42 at Kansas last week, had no chance of shutting down the Badgers. The question was whether NIU's offense could be success enough to make the game interesting.
The answer: Not really.
On the Huskies' third possession, they drove 67 yards in 5 plays, with Chandler Harnish's 39-yard pass to Perez Ashford setting up a 3-yard run by Jasmin Hopkins. That tied the game at 7-7 with 1:59 left in the first quarter.
NIU missed a 42-yard field goal at the end of the first half, but otherwise never got back into scoring range. The Huskies finished with 237 yards of offense, well behind Wisconsin's 621.
“It was incredibly disappointing,” Harnish said. “This is probably the worst offensive performance I've been part of. Credit goes to Wisconsin. They schemed us up perfect. Their linebackers are maybe some of the best linebackers I've played against.”
Northern muffed a nice opportunity to grab momentum when it tried an onside kick following the touchdown. The ball bounced off a Badger, popped in the air and NIU's Dominique Ware had it in his grasp. But a teammate also jumped for the ball, it came loose in the collision and Wisconsin's Jacob Pedersen secured possession.
From there, the Badgers drove 49 yards in 3 plays to take a 14-7 lead and the rout was on. Wisconsin scored touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions.
First-year NIU coach Dave Doeren spent the past five years as a Wisconsin assistant and was defensive coordinator the last three seasons.
“Not a day that I'm very proud of as a coach,” Doeren said. “I think our guys, we tried to get them to play loose, and we didn't. We're 1-2. We were 1-2 here last year and went on a run and that's what we're going to talk about when we get home. Every goal on our board is still there.”