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Hill scores five touchdowns to lift Wisconsin

Sep 15, 2007 - 9:22 PM MADISON, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- P.J. Hill endured very few bumps on his way to a huge day.

Hill rushed for four touchdowns and caught another score as No. 7 Wisconsin pulled away for a 45-31 victory over The Citadel on Saturday.

Sparked by their bruising sophomore running back, the Badgers (3-0) took control after an uninspired first half which ended in a 21-21 tie.

Hill plowed in from one yard in the third quarter, giving the Badgers the lead for good. His 11-yard TD reception early in the fourth quarter provided a 38-21 bulge.

In the first half, the 5-11, 227-pound Hill had scoring runs of 22, two and one yard. He rushed for 168 yards on 25 carries in his best performance of the season.

Hill tied a school record for TDs in a game. Brian Calhoun was the last Badger to score five TDs in a game, accomplishing the feat in 2005.

"P.J. was doing a real great job today," Wisconsin offensive lineman Eric Vanden Heuval said. "He was real physical, making guys not want to tackle him. We were helping out on the line, opening up some holes for him. I think because of our physical play, both on the offensive line and the way P.J. ran, we were able to break them down in the run game."

Tyler Donovan passed for three TDs for the Badgers, who extended the nation's longest winning streak to 12 games. He completed 14-of-20 passes for 201 yards without a turnover.

With Hill and Donovan leading the way, the Badgers, scored on their first four drives of the second half.

While their offense is clicking, the Badgers do have some issues to correct on defense heading into next week's Big Ten Conference opener against Iowa. The Badgers allowed two 72-yard touchdown drives and an 80-yard scoring drive in the opening half.

"We played well in the second half, but in the first half, the thing that we have to do is understand the flow of the game," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. "Defensively, we've got to go in there and make the adjustments."

The unimpressive first half for the Badgers looked very much like last week's game at Nevada-Las Vegas, where they escaped with a 20-13 victory.

Lefthanded Duran Lawson threw for three first-half touchdowns for the Bulldogs (2-1), whose impressive early showing conjured up memories of Appalachian State's 34-32 win at then-No. 5 Michigan on September 1.

Lawson's third TD, a 19-yard connection to Tory Cooper with 59 seconds left in the first half, pulled the Bulldogs into a 21-21 tie. He also found tight end Taylor Cornett for a one-yard score with under 30 seconds remaining.

The senior signal-caller wound up completing 23-of-35 passes for 254 yards and three TDs with an interception.

The Citadel entered this contest off last week's 76-0 pasting of Webber International.

"Obviously the size is such an advantage that they have," Bulldogs coach Kevin Higgins said. "Their offensive line, as big as they are and their ability to just grind the football and wear us down in the third and fourth quarter, makes a huge difference. Depth is always a factor and just the physical size of them was the difference."