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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 7:49 p.m., Saturday, September 13, 2008

CFB: No. 10 Wisconsin spoils party for Fresno St.

By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer

FRESNO, Calif. — P.J. Hill and Wisconsin spoiled the biggest game in Bulldog Stadium history.

Hill ran for 112 yards and Allan Evridge threw a touchdown pass before leaving with an injury to help the 10th-ranked Badgers beat No. 21 Fresno State 13-10 tonight.

The much-hyped contest was the physical, tight game that both teams expected. The Badgers ended up on top because they capitalized on key special-teams plays while the Bulldogs didn't.

Wisconsin (3-0) scored its only points of the second half on a 23-yard field goal by Philip Welch after a fumbled punt by A.J. Jefferson. That proved to be just enough to win because Kevin Goessling missed three field goals, including a 35-yarder in the fourth quarter and a 51-yarder after a blocked punt in the third.

Fresno State (1-1) appeared to have another good chance after Robert Malone's punt was downed inside the 1 with 1:55 to go. But backup quarterback Dustin Scherer ran for 2 yards on first down and fullback Bill Rentmeester followed with an 8-yard run for a first down that forced Fresno State to use its final timeout. Scherer took three knees to run out the clock.

Wisconsin heads into the Big Ten season undefeated and with the best hopes of any conference team of making it into the BCS title game following No. 5 Ohio State's 35-3 loss to No. 1 Southern California earlier in the night.

The loss brought an early end to Fresno State's hopes of following the path set by WAC rivals Boise State and Hawai'i the past two years of going to a BCS bowl.