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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, December 30, 2009

No. 24 Wisconsin wins, 20-14


Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Wisconsin running back John Clay, right, runs past Miami linebacker Colin McCarthy for a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

JOHN RAOUX | Associated Press

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ORLANDO, Fla. — All that Miami speed was no match for the big, bad Badgers.

John Clay had 121 yards rushing and two touchdowns, powering No. 24 Wisconsin past 14th-ranked Miami, 20-14, in the Champs Sports Bowl last night.

Clay ran through, over and around the Hurricanes to help the Badgers (10-3) earn their first victory over a ranked opponent this season and claim a big win for the Big Ten.

"That's Wisconsin football, just wearing a defense down," said Clay, who was selected bowl MVP. "The third quarter, fourth quarter, I could just see them sucking wind and holding their waists."

Scott Tolzien threw for 260 yards, and Montee Ball added 61 yards rushing for a Wisconsin team touted as too big and too slow for the dynamic Hurricanes. None of that seemed to matter when the Badgers were powering the ball down the field.

"The way we were running the ball, I had it pretty easy," Tolzien said. "I just had to find a way to get a few passes to our receivers."

Miami's Jacory Harris struggled before throwing a touchdown pass to Thearon Collier with 1:22 remaining. The Hurricanes recovered the onside kick, but Harris threw incomplete on fourth down.

Harris, who threw for 188 yards, was slowed by an injured right thumb, a brace around his left leg and a Badgers team that smothered him with five sacks. Wisconsin's running game helped it hold the ball for nearly 40 minutes.

"Against this type of team, you got to put up points and put them up fast, because they can hold the ball for so long," Harris said. "They had a lot of defensive pressure, but at the same time, I got to get the ball out quicker."

Miami's Sam Shields took a reverse from Graig Cooper on the opening kickoff, zipped up the middle, then cut down the left sideline for a touchdown. But an illegal block in the back on the play returned the ball to the Wisconsin 16-yard line.

Shields was credited with an 84-yard return, a Hurricanes bowl record. Cooper had a 16-yard touchdown run on the next play that gave Miami the lead 23 seconds into the game.

That was about the only thing that went wrong for the Badgers.

Clay scored on a 3-yard run with 7:12 left in the first quarter and added another 3-yarder in the second quarter and the Badgers never trailed again.

EAGLEBANK BOWL

UCLA RALLIES, 30-21

Temple's first bowl game in 30 years was ruined by the Bruins.

Akeem Ayers returned an interception 2 yards for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and UCLA shut down Temple in the second half yesterday in the EagleBank Bowl in Washington.

"I know they were saying the West Coast Cali boys were going to be soft and used to surfing and things like that," linebacker Reggie Carter said. "I'm not going to lie; it was cold. But football is football, the field is still 100 yards long and we still played. They ran the ball; we stuffed it. We got the victory, so hopefully they can never say we're soft. We were down 21-7, and you never seen us quit."

The Bruins (7-6) rallied from a 21-7 first-half deficit to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2006. That mini-slump by UCLA pales in comparison to the decades of futility endured by the Owls (9-4), whose only previous bowl appearances in school history were the inaugural Sugar Bowl in 1935 and the Garden State Bowl in 1979.

UCLA braved the freezing temperatures and a wind chill in the teens to overcome a sluggish start. Kevin Prince completed 16 of 31 passes for 221 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. His counterpart, Vaughn Charlton, had more interceptions (two) than completed passes (one) in the second half.

The Bruins had pulled within 21-20 before Ayers stepped in front of Charlton's screen pass and strolled into the end zone with 6:01 to play.

The Bruins got a 2-point conversion, then added two more when Temple snapped the ball over its punter's head and out of the end zone for a safety with 4:29 remaining.

Temple sputtered in the second half minus its star running back, Bernard Pierce. The freshman, who ran for more than 1,300 yards and scored 15 TDs despite missing most of the last two games with an injured shoulder, was hurt again. He sat out as the Owls squandered a lead he helped build with an 11-yard TD in the second quarter.