2007 Wisconsin Badgers football team The 2007 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin – Madison during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season . Led by head coach Bret Bielema , the Badgers completed the season with a 9 – 4 record , including a 5 – 3 mark in Big Ten Conference play . The season ended with a loss in the Outback Bowl to Tennessee , 21 – 17 . Previous season . The 2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team was unranked going into the season with first year head coach Bret Bielema . After a tough loss to Michigan , the Badgers rebounded and finished the season 11 - 1 , tying the Wolverines for second in the Big Ten . The Badgers then defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks , 17 – 14 , in the Capital One Bowl finishing the season ranked # 5 in the Coaches ' Poll and # 7 in the AP Poll . Game notes . Illinois . Wisconsin ' s dreams of an undefeated season were snapped in Champaign - Urbana , as the Illini stunned the 5th ranked Badgers 31 – 25 . A poor showing by the Badgers , combined with excellent efforts across the board for the Illini , sunk the Badgers , who fell to 2 – 1 in the Big Ten and 5 – 1 overall despite an incredible effort by QB Tyler Donovan , who completed 27 passes on 49 attempts for 392 yards and 2 TDs . Illinois ' s defense sacked Donovan twice and forced a pair of INTs ( one by Vontae Davis , the other by Kevin Mitchell ) . Illinois RB Rashard Mendenhall ran wild on the Badgers for 160 yards and 2 TDs on just 19 carries , and QB Juice Williams dissected Wisconsin through the air and on the ground . Williams completed 12 passes on 19 attempts for 121 yards , and ran for 92 yards on 14 carries . Penn State . Wisconsin RB P . J . Hill fumbled on his very first carry of the game , and Wisconsin simply collapsed in Happy Valley , losing 38 – 7 to Penn State . Wisconsin QB Tyler Donovan had a bad game , as he threw 2 INTs , was sacked 5 times , and averaged just 1 . 1 YPC on 11 carries . The Wisconsin defense , put in often impossible situations by the ineptitude of their offense ( Wisconsin turned the ball over 3 times and committed 8 penalties ) , caved under pressure from Penn State . Wisconsin P Ken Debauche punted 6 times on the day . Penn State RB Rodney Kinlaw ran for 115 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries , and WR Deon Butler caught 7 passes for 93 yards and the only passing touchdown of the day by either team . However , the leading receiver of the game was Wisconsin WR Kyle Jefferson , who caught 6 passes for 124 yards . Ohio State . At one point in the game , Wisconsin led Ohio State 17 – 10 , but a big 4th Quarter from the Buckeyes offense and defense secured an eventual Ohio State victory . The game snapped a 2 game winning streak by the Badgers over Ohio State ( from the 2003 and 2004 seasons ) and improved Jim Tressel ' s record to 2 – 3 against Wisconsin . Michigan . Wisconsin pounded Lloyd Carr ' s Michigan team 37 – 21 for their second consecutive home win over the Wolverines , and Bret Bielema ' s second win over a ranked opponent ( his first was against Michigan State ) . Carr benched both QB Chad Henne and RB Mike Hart so they would both be healthy against Ohio State next week . Wisconsin rattled off 17 unanswered points to open the game ; starting with a Travis Beckum touchdown reception off a 10 yard pass from Tyler Donovan , a Taylor Mehlhaff field goal , and a 2 yard TD run by Donovan . Michigan answered with a 12 yard touchdown pass from Ryan Mallett to WR Mario Manningham for their only score of the first half . Wisconsin got another Mehlhaff FG with 0 : 15 remaining in the half and led 20 - 7 at halftime . Both teams had a sluggish third quarter ; the only points scored by either team came on a 19 yard FG by Taylor Mehlhaff for Wisconsin . However , Wisconsin and Michigan scored a pair of touchdowns apiece in the 4th quarter ; Michigan getting a record setting 97 yard TD reception by Mario Manningham and a 26 yard TD pass from Mallett to WR Adrian Arrington and Wisconsin answering with a pair of touchdown runs by RB Zach Brown . Wisconsin ' s starting RB P . J . Hill managed a grand total of 14 yards on 5 carries . Zach Brown , his backup , ran for 108 yards on 28 carries with a pair of TDs . Wisconsin WR Paul Hubbard made 7 receptions for 134 yards , and TE Travis Beckum caught 6 passes for 106 yards with a touchdown reception . The Badgers improved to 8 – 3 on the year , and face 1 - 10 Minnesota next week in Minneapolis . With a win over Ohio State next week , Michigan could win the Big Ten outright . Season Summary . After a 5 – 0 start , Wisconsin lost its next two games ( to Illinois and Penn State , both on the road ) . Wins in 4 of their next 5 clinched a 9 – 3 regular season , but poor showings against Penn State and Ohio State , as well as a below - average effort against Tennessee in the postseason , put a dampener on an otherwise successful season for the Badgers .