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Before we get down to Super Bowl business, let's preempt some nonsense we'll probably here at various points throughout the day.
Yes, Wisconsin fans can claim Russell Wilson.
Yes, UW can, too.
Yes, they should, because he almost won them a Rose Bowl.
Yes, they should, because Russell Wilson became Russell Wilson at Wisconsin after he was Russell Wilson, N.C. State quarterback.
Had to get that out of my system. If you spend time on the Internet and/or around obnoxious anti-Wisconsin sports fans, you will probably hear that at some point. You're welcome for the advanced ammunition.
So it's the Super Bowl! The New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks! We already outlined in January how Wisconsin and the Big Ten are running the show, as far as the college football angle today. Here's the breakdown of Super Bowl participants by college and conference, counting practice squad/injured reserve players in addition to active roster players because dammit, we will not forget about David Gilreath and Mike Taylor.
By college (teams with more than one representative)
6: Wisconsin (Seahawks: David Gilreath, O'Brien Schofield, Mike Taylor, Russell Wilson; Patriots: Jonathan Casillas, James White)
5: Southern Cal
4: Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, Rutgers, Stanford, Texas A&M, UCLA
3: Cal, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Purdue, TCU
2: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kent State, La. Tech, Marshall, Memphis, Nebraska, NC State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee, Utah State
By conference
Big Ten: 29
Pac-12: 27
SEC: 25
ACC: 11
Big 12: 9
MAC: 7
AAC: 5
Ivy League, Notre Dame: 2
Ode to Russell Wilson
| Russell Wilson at Wisconsin (2011) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
| Date | Opponent | Score | QB Rat | Comp | Att | Comp % | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rush | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Sep 01 | UNLV | W 51-17 | 292.5 | 10 | 13 | 76.9 | 255 | 19.6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 31 | 1 |
| Sep 10 | Oregon State | W 35-0 | 203.7 | 17 | 21 | 81 | 189 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 2.8 | 0 |
| Sep 17 | @Northern Illinois | W 49-7 | 187.7 | 23 | 32 | 71.9 | 347 | 10.8 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 37 | 7.4 | 0 |
| Sep 24 | South Dakota | W 59-10 | 231.5 | 19 | 25 | 76 | 345 | 13.8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Oct 01 | Nebraska | W 48-17 | 210.1 | 14 | 20 | 70 | 255 | 12.8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 32 | 5.3 | 1 |
| Oct 15 | Indiana | W 59-7 | 172 | 12 | 17 | 70.6 | 166 | 9.8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 42 | 21 | 0 |
| Oct 22 | @Michigan State | L 31-37 | 168.2 | 14 | 21 | 66.7 | 223 | 10.6 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 30 | 3.8 | 1 |
| Oct 29 | @Ohio State | L 29-33 | 159.9 | 20 | 32 | 62.5 | 253 | 7.9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 1.9 | 0 |
| Nov 05 | Purdue | W 62-17 | 194.1 | 15 | 20 | 75 | 205 | 10.3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 76 | 7.6 | 1 |
| Nov 12 | @Minnesota | W 42-13 | 259.7 | 16 | 17 | 94.1 | 178 | 10.5 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 19 | 2.7 | 0 |
| Nov 19 | @Illinois | W 28-17 | 160.5 | 10 | 13 | 76.9 | 90 | 6.9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1.4 | 1 |
| Nov 26 | Penn State | W 45-7 | 142.2 | 19 | 29 | 65.5 | 186 | 6.4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 36 | 5.1 | 0 |
| Dec 03 | @Michigan State | W 42-39 | 177.5 | 17 | 24 | 70.8 | 187 | 7.8 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Jan 02 | @Oregon | L 38-45 | 193.9 | 19 | 25 | 76 | 296 | 11.8 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 1 |
Man, this season. The way he started the season in that trouncing of UNLV. That freaking Nebraska game. And yes, the Rose Bowl. He almost won that damn thing. I still curse The Football Gods for not knocking that Jared Abbrederis fumble out of bounds.
But that's ok. Here's some sweet video:
In the NFL, Russ was still Russ this season. Some of his passing numbers might've been down, but when you factor in his rushing totals, you could argue that 2014 was his best pro season.
The Seahawks finished the regular season 12-4, won the NFC West and defeated the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers ( :( ) en route to the Super Bowl.
| Russell Wilson 2014 Stats | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | COMP | ATT | COMP % | YDS | AVG | TD | LNG | INT | FUM | RAT |
| 285 | 452 | 63.1 | 3,475 | 7.69 | 20 | 80 | 7 | 6 | 95.0 | |
| Rushing | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | FD | FUM | LST | ||
| 118 | 849 | 7.2 | 55 | 6 | 45 | 5 | 0 | |||
How to watch Super Bowl XLIX
Kickoff: 5:30 p.m. CT
Location: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
TV: NBC
Live stream: NBC has one beginning at 11 a.m. CT
Radio: Patriots affiliates | Seahawks affiliates
Halftime show: Katy Perry feat. Lenny Kravitz and...