• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Hill, Wisconsin roll over Akron

Aug 30, 2008 - 10:40 PM MADISON, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- Bret Bielema has lofty expectations for P.J. Hill. The junior did not disappoint in Wisconsin's season opener.

Hill rushed for 210 yards and two touchdowns Saturday, leading the 12th-ranked Badgers to a 38-17 victory over Akron.

The Big Ten Conference's Freshman of the Year in 2006, Hill figures to be the focal point of a Wisconsin offense that is breaking in a new starting quarterback - Allan Evridge - this season.

The 228-pound Hill followed up his breakout freshman season with a solid sophomore campaign in which he rushed for 1,212 yards and 14 touchdowns. But Bielema knows Hill will have to take his game to another level if Wisconsin is to challenge Ohio State for the Big Ten title in 2008.

"There is a difference in P.J. Hill from the last two years," the Wisconsin coach said. "He is our running back, and we want him to understand that."

Hill certainly fulfilled his role in this contest, carrying the ball 26 times. He scored on a 2-yard run in the first quarter and a 1-yarder in the third as the Badgers (1-0) overcame a sluggish start to win their 13th straight home opener.

"We wanted to hit the ground running, and I do feel that we did that," Bielema said.

"You want to show (the opponent) that it's going to be a long day," Hill added. "It's not going to be easy. We play physical football, straight at you. Nothing too fancy, but eventually, it's going to wear you down."

Zach Brown rushed for 87 yards and a TD for Wisconsin, which finished with 404 yards on the ground.

"P.J. is our guy, but the one thing we've got is the ability to kind of change gears a little bit," Bielema said. "Zach is a different runner. Obviously, there are certain plays that he is good at. He was hitting the draw play at a great rate today."

After opening a 17-0 lead just eight seconds into the second quarter, Wisconsin struggled for the rest of the half as the Zips (0-1) scored 10 straight points.

Akron pulled within 17-7 on Chris Jacquemain's 3-yard TD pass to Merce Poindexter, but Wisconsin's David Gilreath returned the ensuing kickoff 63 yards. A personal foul on the Zips moved the ball to Akron's 18, but Hill fumbled the ball out of the end zone three plays later.

"I was just being competitive," Hill said. "I should have known better than reaching with the ball."

The Zips narrowed their deficit to 17-10 on Igor Iveljic's 26-yard field goal just before halftime.

"I probably should have emphasized playing in the second quarter a little bit as well," Bielema said. "We obviously didn't do things as well in the second quarter, especially there toward the end of the half when we got the ball down to the 1-yard line with one timeout on the board. Definitely a lot of things we can correct."

But the Badgers rolled in the third quarter behind a dominant offensive line that opened gaping holes for Hill and Brown, who scored from 2 yards out to make it 31-10 with six minutes remaining in the period.

"I do like the way we responded and came out in the third quarter and took the game over," Bielema said. "I would probably give the game ball to the offensive line. They controlled the line of scrimmage and were able to move Akron up front, even pick up guys on the second level."

Evridge completed 7-of-10 passes for 75 yards in his debut as a starter. The fifth-year senior tossed a 3-yard TD to Garrett Graham just 4 1/2 minutes into the game, capping a 10-play, 67-yard march on Wisconsin's opening drive.

"The part that we knew Allan was going to be able to do was being able to manage the game," Bielema said. "He put on a lot of calls at the line of scrimmage which are good, and he was positive off of that."

Jacquemain finished 22-of-36 for 227 yards and two touchdowns for Akron, which was predicted to finish last in the Mid-American Conference this season.

"We're going to have to play extremely well, and they're going to have to make some mistakes to have that opportunity," Akron head coach J.D. Brookheart said. "They did make those mistakes, but we didn't take advantage of them."