Wisconsin running back John Clay will not participate in spring drills, head coach Bret Bielema announced in a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Clay is one of three key players who will miss the entire spring season. The other two are linebackers Chris Borland and Mike Taylor, both of whom were expected to be out when practices start Saturday.

Clay has had a history of ankle problems that go back to his high school days. To remedy those problems, he is in the process of having procedures done on both ankles and is expected to be fully healthy when summer conditioning starts June 7.

"We thought the best option for him was to get completely healthy," Bielema said. "Last year he was kind of limited in summer drills and we thought that really affected his play early on. He actually got stronger as the season wore on so we really want him to enter fall camp in good shape."

Clay told reporters Wednesday that he had surgery Jan. 7 on his left ankle. He had a bone removed and said he could feel the relief immediately after the surgery.

"It was a pain (last season)," Clay said. "Just getting hit hard, getting landed on anyway kind of tweaked it."

The reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year is set for surgery on his right ankle March 25 and Clay said the recovery time on this ankle should only be a month because he is just having it cleaned out. No bones will be removed.

Borland, meanwhile, had an operation done on his shoulder after the bowl game. He will miss the entire spring but Bielema said his rehab has his on course to be completely ready to go by fall camp.

Bielema said linebacker Mike Taylor, who tore his ACL Oct. 17 against Iowa, is "doing extremely well" and should be fully ready for summer conditioning.

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Congratulations to former UW linebacker Jonathan Casillas who ended his rookie season by winning a Super Bowl ring last night in Miami. Casillas will forever go down in Super Bowl history for recovering the gutsy onside kick by the Saints to open up the second half. For Badger fans, it will go down as his best special teams play since his game-winning blocked punt in Minnesota Oct. 15, 2005.

When Curt Phillips committed to Wisconsin in February of 2008 one could have mistaken him for Jesus Christ himself. The fans were raving him about him, YouTubing him and dreaming about him. The Tim Tebow comparisons started to roll in (Note: That was just a random coincidence that I mentioned Tim Tebow and Jesus Christ in the same paragraph).

Who could blame them? The Badgers had just survived a season with Tyler Donovan under center and the options for 2009 were Dustin Sherer and Allan Evridge. 

We all know how that played out.

Phillips of course redshirted his freshman season and Bret Bielema added another quarterback a year ago when he signed Jon Budmayr, who also redshirted his first season.

Like when Phillips signed, there was a lot of good things said about Budmayr, but the compliments became a little more substantiated when I talked to his teammates in August. 

O'Brien Schofield and Jaevery McFadden both said he was the most impressive freshman they had seen on offense. But then Garrett Graham -- the guy who was actually catching passes from the quarterbacks -- also put Budmayr at the top of his list of most impressive freshmen.

"Jon Budmayr came in early and I saw what he can do," Graham said. "He really impressed a lot of us."

Now enter into the fold Joe Brennan, a 6-4, 195 pound quarterback from New Jersey that Scout.com's National Recruiting Editor Allen Wallace said "just might have the intangibles to emerge as a dominant player as he refines his technique." Brennan signed with the Badgers Wednesday.

Poll

Which quarterback will have the most successful career at Wisconsin?

25%

Curt Phillips (R-So,)

49 votes

51%

Jon Budmayr (R-Fr.)

99 votes

22%

Joe Brennan (Fr.)

43 votes

191 votes | Poll has closed

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Wisconsin gets 10th victory with convincing win over Miami

If the first two plays of Tuesday night's Champs Sports Bowl were any indication, the Badgers were going to have to brace for a long night in Orlando.

Luckily for UW, Miami's 86-yard kickoff return to open the game and 16-yard touchdown run on the next play would be the last time the Hurricanes came anywhere near the endzone until the final minutes of the game. Instead, the Badgers scored the next 20 points en route to a 20-14 win that gave Wisconsin its first 10-win season since 2006.

After the game, a very proud Bret Bielema obviously felt some vindication in his post-game interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe: "You can tell your man (ESPN analyst)  Mark May -- he said we wouldn't get to three or four wins -- I think 10 is a lot more than that."

While the score indictated a close victory, it truely did not do justice to UW's dominating performance Tuesday night. The Badgers outgained Miami 436-245 in total yardage, won the time of possession by 18:21 and sacked UM quarterback Jacory Harris five times.

But despite the impressive stats, UW got off to a poor start and nearly let the Hurricanes back into the game late. Miami ran an end-around on the opening kickoff return, which Sam Shields returned for a touchdown. An illegal blocking penalty brought the return back to the UW 16-yard line but that hardly mattered as running back Graig Cooper ran it in for a score on Miami's first play from scrimmage.

Just 23 seconds into the game, UW trailed 7-0. But who would have known that the next 56 minutes would belong solely to Wisconsin?

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Champs Sports Bowl No. 14 Miami vs. No. 25 Wisconsin
	vs
9-3 (5-3 ACC)		9-3 (5-3 Big Ten)
December 29, 2009  7 PM CT Citrus Bowl Stadium (65,438), Orlando, Fla.
TV: ESPN Radio: Badgers Radio Network, WSCR 670 The Score (Chicago) Coverage: Our Champs Sports Bowl Game Page
All-time Series: Miami leads 2-1 Last Meeting: Miami won 51-3 (Sept. 9, 1989)

Welcome into our LIVE GAME THREAD for the Champs Sports Bowl. Please join us tonight in what should be a very exciting game against the Miami Hurricanes. Feel free to leave your comments/predictions below!

 

The Consensus

Adam Hoge (11-1, +171): Wisconsin 24, Miami 20

Jake Harris (10-2, +146): Miami 31, Wisconsin 28

Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com): Wisconsin 27, Miami 24

The Reasoning

After a season that mostly went the way we thought it would, this game is probably the toughest one to predict.  These two teams are remarkably similar, both statistically and in other ways.  Both teams have high-scoring offenses and defenses that defend the run well, but sometimes struggle against the pass.  The special teams units in this game are almost equally abysmal.

Jacory Harris will be able to make some plays for Miami with his arm.  The Hurricanes boast a trio of talented wide receivers, the likes of which the Badgers haven't faced since playing Fresno State in week two.  That game became a shootout because of Wisconsin's inexperienced and overmatched secondary.  Expect that to be an issue again, but also look for the Badgers to get off the field in some key spots because of their stout play against the run.  Miami's leading rusher finished the regular season with barely more than half the yardage total that John Clay put up.  That must have a front seven who didn't allow a Big Ten team to rush for over 100 yards in a game this season licking its collective chops.  Harris is no threat to run and threw 17 interceptions this year, so as long as the defensive linemen can put pressure on him in the pocket and force him into some bad throws on the move, the opportunistic defensive backs will have chances to create turnovers.

Poll

Who you got in the Champs Sports Bowl Tuesday?

14%

Wisconsin by 10 or more

6 votes

42%

Wisconsin by 9 or less

18 votes

19%

Miami by 9 or less

8 votes

23%

Miami by 10 or more

10 votes

42 votes | Poll has closed

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This is the fourth in a series of stories breaking down the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl between No. 14 Miami and No. 25 Wisconsin, which will be played Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT.

Miami Coaching

Randy Shannon is just 43 years old and in his third year as head coach at his alma mater.  He played linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys and served as a position coach in the NFL and as defensive coordinator under Larry Coker at Miami.  Shannon is 21-16 in his head coaching career, including 9-3 this season.  His teams have improved from five wins in 2007 to seven a season ago to nine this year.

Shannon's teams have a losing record overall in conference play in what is considered to be a weak ACC.  They have never finished higher than third in the Coastal Division.  Shannon has a 4-6 record against ranked opponents and lost his only bowl game, 24-17, to California in the Emerald Bowl in 2008.  His teams are 9-10 away from Land Shark Stadium.

Shannon made headlines for the Hurricanes' tumultuous offseason.  Three quarterbacks transferred, including Robert Marve, who started 11 of 13 games for Miami in 2008.  Wide receiver Jermaine McKenzie bolted for Memphis and became the fourth member of Shannon's first recruiting class to leave.  Shannon also fired offensive coordinator Patrick Nix in favor of keeping a pro style offense, and his defensive coordinator left for Oklahoma State.  Despite the turmoil, Shannon, his new coordinators and the remaining players seemed to forge a strong bond and had won three games against top-20 teams by October 3.  He should be credited for getting off to such a strong start and putting together a solid season despite an offseason filled with distractions.  He seems to have the program on the upswing after a nine-win regular season and some statement victories early on.

Wisconsin Coaching

Bret Bielema is only 39 years old and in his fourth season at the helm for Wisconsin.  He played linebacker at Iowa and was the defensive coordinator for the Badgers before becoming their head coach.  He is 37-14 overall, including 9-3 this season.  While Bielema's win total declined from 12 to nine to seven in 2008, his young 2009 squad rebounded nicely and is seeking its 10th win in the Champs Sports Bowl.

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This is the third in a series of stories breaking down the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl between No. 14 Miami and No. 25 Wisconsin, which will be played Tuesday at 7 p.m. 

Miami Special Teams

The Hurricanes boast the ACC's top kicker, junior Matt Bosher who was first team All-ACC after making 14-of-16 kicks this season, including his last 12. He also made all 48 of his extra point attempts. Bosher can do it all. He was also named second team All-ACC as a punter by averaging 42.7 yards per kick while putting 22-of-45 kicks inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Graig Cooper returns kicks for the Canes and averaged 25 yards per return this season, which was good for fourth in the ACC.

But that's where the positives of UM's special teams unit end. Miami struggled covering kickoffs all season and allowed three blocked punts.

Wisconsin Special Teams

No doubt the weakness of the Badgers, Bret Bielema's special teams unit struggled for the third straight season. UW averaged a putrid 7.6 yards per punt return and only put 19.6 yards per kick return.

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