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Gilreath has unique view of Border Battle rivalry

MADISON — Of all the players on the University of Wisconsin football team, David Gilreath has a unique perspective of the Border Battle rivalry between the Badgers and Minnesota.

The sophomore wide receiver from New Hope, Minn., is a native of the Gopher State, but is having a breakout season playing in the Badger State.

Gilreath’s most vivid memory of the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry, which will be revisited for the 118th time Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, was in 2005. Then-freshman linebacker Jonathan Casillas—now UW’s starting senior mike linebacker—blocked Justin Kucek’s punt in the closing minutes to turn the game on its heel and give Wisconsin a 38-34 victory at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

His family was so sure the game was over, Gilreath recalled, that they were headed out of the stadium in an attempt to beat traffic.

“My dad was like, ‘These Gophers, they’re going to choke. I’ve been watching these Gophs for years. They’re going to choke,’ ” Gilreath said. “I’m like, ‘This game is over!’

“Sure enough, blocked, and I’m like, “Oh, here we go,’ ” Gilreath continued. “You’ve all seen the rest of it. I guess the rest is history.”

Gilreath went out of his home state to play for the Badgers two years later and instantly made an impact as a receiver and a returner his rookie season.

But in his sophomore year, Gilreath has been one of few bright spots on the offense—and not just when catching the ball.

The Badgers, week by week, are integrating the end-around running play more into the offense. It’s where Gilreath races behind the line of scrimmage on a hot route, the ball is snapped, and quarterback Dustin Sherer hands off to the sprinting Gilreath, who tries to get to the sideline and up field before the defense can recover.

Many reverses don’t work, pushing the Badgers back five or six yards.

Last Saturday’s game against Indiana, though, was Gilreath’s breakout game on the ground. He ran eight reverses for 168 yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yard score that was the second-longest rushing TD in school history.

“I haven’t really mastered it yet. I’m still missing a couple things,” Gilreath said. “It might look good, but guys are doing a good job blocking.”

It’s not just the offensive line that must pick up blocking assignments on end-around plays. All the wide receivers and tight ends also have to block downfield to spring a big play.

Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema named wide receiver Isaac Anderson—“the best blocker on the team,’’ said Gilreath—and tight ends Garrett Graham and Mickey Turner as instrumental to Gilreath’s success against the Hoosiers.

“We just felt David, with the ability he has and how he can kind of read things on the move, it would be a good play for him,” Bielema said when asked of how the play has worked itself into UW’s playbook. “David would be the first to credit those players out in space blocking well for him.”

Along with making a difference in the passing and return games, Gilreath takes pride in adding that third dimension, which allows him to be an even larger part of the offensive game plan.

“It’s fun to me. People say you’re a little bit too little for a running back,” the 5-foot-11 Gilreath said. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m just trying to get the ball in my hands, I guess.”

When asked what the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry means to him as a Minnesotan, Gilreath deflected his own views on it and summed up how the Badgers as a team feel about keeping Paul Bunyan’s Axe in Madison.

“I got a few friends on the team, so it will be pretty important for me, I guess,” Gilreath said. “But for the team, I mean, it’s the Axe.”

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-- Time: 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

-- Place: Camp Randall Stadium (FieldTurf, 80,321), Madison.

-- Expected attendance: This Big Ten game is sold out.

-- Records: Minnesota is 7-3 overall, 3-3 in Big Ten. Wisconsin is 5-5 overall, 2-5 in Big Ten.

-- Ratings: Neither team is rated.

-- Spread: Wisconsin by 132 .

-- TV/radio: The game will be televised by ABC: Channels 12, 17, 27 (Channel 17 is Channel 4 on Janesville cable; Channel 27 is Channel 7). Terry Gannon and David Norrie will report.

The game will be broadcast live by the 53-station Wisconsin Radio Network. That includes WCLO, 12:30 AM in Janesville, and the flagship station, WTMJ, 620 AM, in Milwaukee. Matt Lepay will do the play-by-play, with color commentary by Mike Lucas.

Internet: All Wisconsin games can be heard live at www.uwbadgers.com, the UW Department of Athletics’ website.

-- The series: This is the most-played rivalry in NCAA Division I football history. It has been played annually since 1890 (except for 1906), and this is the 118th meeting. Since 1948, the winner has gained possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe.

Minnesota leads the all-time series, 59-50-8, but Wisconsin has a 28-21-6 advantage at Madison. The Badgers have won 11 of the last 13 meetings, including six straight games in Madison by an average of 22.5 points. The winning team has scored at least 37 points in each of the last eight meetings, and Wisconsin’s 2006 team was 48-12 winner in the Gophers’ last trip to Camp Randall. Minnesota’s last win wa 37-34 at Minneapolis in 2003.

-- Last meeting: Wisconsin closed the 2007 regular season by rallying for a 41-34 win over Minnesota at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, giving the Badgers the axe for the fourth straight year. The Gophers had more than 500 yards in total offense, but freshman Zach Brown rushed for 250 yards and scored two touchdowns to spark Wisconsin, which overcame an early 13-3 deficit to take its first lead at 17-13 in the third quarter.

Freshman return specialist David Gilreath, a Minnesota native, had 226 return yards for Wisconsin. That helped the Badger offense achieve an average starting field position at Wisconsin’s 46-yard line.

-- Last game: Wisconsin rolled up a 31-0 advantage in the second half to bury Indiana, 55-20, at Bloomington, Ind., last Saturday. The Badgers rushed for 441 yards, tied a school record with seven rushing touchdowns and finished with a 601-224 advantage in total yardage from scrimmage.

David Gilreath led Wisconsin with 168 yards rushing, including a 90-yard touchdown run. P.J. Hill had 126 yards and three touchdowns, and John Clay had 112 yards and one touchdown, marking the first time in history that three Wisconsin players rushed for at least 100 yards apiece in one game.

Minnesota’s offense was at a standstill in a 29-6 loss to Michigan at the Metrodome last Saturday, leaving the previously rated Gophers with their second straight defeat. The Gophers were outgained 432-188, had only seven first downs to Michigan’s 21 and got their only points on Joel Monroe’s two field goals.

-- The coaches: Bret Bielema, the winningest first-year head coach in Big Ten history, is experiencing the most difficult stretch of his young career. His Badgers broke a four-game losing streak three weeks ago against Illinois and have won only two of their last seven games.

Bielema is 26-10 in three seasons as Wisconsin’s head coach. However, his teams are 9-9 in their last 18 games after his head-coaching career started with a 12-1 season in 2006.

A 17-1 start for Bielema, which extended into the 2007 season, was the second-best in Big Ten history. It was topped only by legendary Fielding Yost’s 55-0-1 mark at Michigan in 1901-05.

Bielema was named the conference Coach of the Year in 2006 after leading Wisconsin to a second-place tie with Michigan and a school-record 12 victories. The only loss in his rookie year was 27-13 to Michigan in a Big Ten opener at Ann Arbor, Mich. His team got revenge last year with a 37-21 win over the Wolverines at Camp Randall, now giving him victories over every Big Ten school except Ohio State.

Bielema, a 1992 University of Iowa graduate, earned four letters and became a team captain in Hawkeye football under coach Hayden Fry after joining the program as a walk-on. The Prophetstown, Ill., native was a member of Iowa’s 1990 Big Ten championship team and a starting defensive lineman as a junior and senior.

Bielema also began his coaching career as a 1994-95 graduate assistant at Iowa. He became linebackers coach for the Hawkeyes in 1996 and held that position for six seasons, while working under Fry and current Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.

In his first meeting with the Hawkeyes as Wisconsin’s head coach, Bielema emerged with a 24-21 victory at Iowa City in 2006.

Bielema, 38, is the 28th head football coach in Badger history. He is the fourth-youngest head coach in Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-A)—hand-picked by his predecessor, 16-year UW veteran Barry Alvarez.

Bielema was Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator in 2004 and 2005, helping the Badgers to a 19-6 record. Wisconsin’s 2004 team ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense and ninth in total defense. The 2005 team finished its 10-3 season by limiting seventh-ranked Auburn to 236 yards.

Before coming to Wisconsin, Bielema was co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State under former head coach Bill Snyder in 2002-03. The Wildcats were 22-6 during that time and finished in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense and total defense in 2002 and 2003.

The four head coaches for whom Bielema has worked—Alvarez, Snyder, Ferentz and Fry—have combined to win 566 games and lead their teams to 42 bowl games. Teams for which Bielema has coached since the start of the 2002 season have a 67-22 record.

Tim Brewster is 7-14 as Minnesota’s second-year head coach. After going 1-11 last season, Brewster and his staff responded with a recruiting effort that was rated as high as 15th in the nation last February. His Gophers then carried the momentum to a 7-1 start this season before losing their last two games.

Before taking the Minnesota job, Brewster was the tight ends coach for the NFL’s Denver Broncos in 2005-06. Before that, he was with the San Diego Chargers in 2002-04, serving as assistant head coach in 2004. His previous collegiate experience included stops at the Texas and North Carolina, coaching tight ends and special teams.

-- About the Badgers: Wisconsin needs at least one win in its last two games to become bowl-eligible for the seventh straight year. After facing the Gophers, the Badgers finish with a nonconference home game against Cal Poly … This will be the 38th straight sellout at Camp Randall … The Badgers are looking to improve on a 28-3 home record since the start of the 2004 season, the year Bret Bielema joined the UW staff as defensive coordinator … The Badgers’ 55-point total at Indiana was their highest since a 65-0 win over Temple at Madison in 2005 …. Despite all its woes this season, Wisconsin still ranks second in the Big Ten in total offense with an average of 400 yards a game and third in total defense (320.3) for conference play. The Badgers also lead the Big Ten in time of possession at 31:57.

Wide receiver David Gilreath’s 168 yards rushing against Indiana were the most by a Badger non-running back in school history. His 90-yard touchdown run against the Hoosiers was the second-longest in school history, topped only by Tom Brigham’s 91-yard scoring run against Western Michigan in 1963 … The last Badger non-running back to go over 100 yards rushing in a game was quarterback Brooks Bollinger, who had 112 in a 49-31 win over Minnesota in 2002 … P.J. Hill needs 155 yards to go over the 1,000 mark for the third straight season. He needs 55 to surpass Billy Marek for third place on Wisconsin’s all-time rushing list. Hill, a junior, has 3,626 career yards, which ranks eighth-best nationally among active players.

-- About the Gophers: With its 7-1 record, Minnesota was on track for a shot at the Rose Bowl until losing to Northwestern, 24-17, two weeks ago. Before that, the Gophers’ only loss was 34-21 in a Big Ten opener at Ohio State … Minnesota is assured of its eighth bowl appearance since 1999 and first since 2006. The Gophers are 3-4 in those most-recent bowl games. During that stretch, they’ve been to the Music City Bowl three times, the Wells Fargo twice ….The Gophers rank No. 3 in the nation in turnover margin, creating 1.5 more per game than they commit … Adam Weber has taken nearly every snap for Minnesota at quarterback this season and has thrown 318 of the Gophers’ 320 passes. He has passed for 2,256 yards and 10 touchdowns. One week after throwing for 327 against Northwestern, he managed only 105 last week against Michigan … In striking contrast to many of the most-recent Minnesota teams, true freshman DeLeon Eckridge leads the Gophers’ ground game with a modest 615 yards.