2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team The 2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin – Madison during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season . Led by first - year head coach Bret Bielema , the Badgers completed the season with a 12 – 1 record , including a 7 – 1 mark in the Big Ten Conference , good for a second - place tie with Michigan . The season was one of the most successful in Badgers football history . The 11 regular - season wins and 12 overall wins were both single season records for the Badgers , and the season ended with a second straight victory in the Capital One Bowl , over Arkansas , 17 - 14 . The Badgers , who were not ranked in the preseason and were expected to finish in the middle of the Big Ten , surprised many with their success and ended the season ranked # 7 in the AP Poll and # 5 in the Coaches ' Poll . Preseason . The Badgers were picked to finish in the middle of the Big Ten conference and were not ranked in the preseason for a number of reasons . Early defections to the National Football League by second - team All - America ns Brandon Williams and Brian Calhoun left the Badger offense with only three returning starters . Additionally , with the departure of Barry Alvarez – who had just completed his final season with 10 wins and a Capital One Bowl victory – the head coaching job was taken over by Bret Bielema , then the youngest head coach in Division I - A football . Bright spots for the Badgers included returning All - American offensive tackle Joe Thomas , who was coming off an ACL injury . John Stocco resumed the starting position at quarterback for his senior season , and P . J . Hill , Jr . won the starting tailback job . The defense was to be led by senior linebacker Mark Zalewski and senior strong safety Joe Stellmacher . The special teams unit was considered strong , with All - American candidate Ken DeBauche punting the ball . Some sportswriters felt that the non - conference schedule was fairly weak . Early in the season , the team ' s non - conference schedule was placed on the " waiting list " of ESPN . com ' s Bottom 10 rankings . Game notes . Bowling Green . In his debut , P . J . Hill , Jr . had 130 rushing yards and a touchdown to lead the Badgers to a victory over the hometeam Falcons . The Badgers broke a 7 – 7 tie in the second quarter when Alonso Rojas blocked a punt and Jonathan Casillas returned it for a touchdown . John Stocco finished 9 - of - 15 for 124 yards and a touchdown , with an interception . Western Illinois . P . J . Hill , Jr . ran for over 100 yards for the second game in a row , and the Badgers overcame a rocky first quarter to beat the Leathernecks . After a fumble on the kickoff lead to a WIU field goal , the Badgers reeled off 34 straight points – 17 in the second quarter – to effectively put the game away . John Stocco was 15 – 25 for 227 yards and another touchdown , and Hill collected three touchdowns on the ground for the Badgers . San Diego State . P . J . Hill , Jr . ran for 184 yards and a touchdown and the defense shut out the Aztecs in the last game before the start of conference play . The Badgers allowed just 153 yards , but the offense was out of sync for the third straight week as Stocco completed just 12 of his 23 passes for 85 yards . Paul Hubbard registered a six - yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring . Michigan . Wisconsin performed admirably in the first half , scoring 10 points , but special teams miscues led to 10 Wolverine points by the break . P . J . Hill , Jr . was held to 54 yards against the stout Michigan run defense , and Mario Manningham had 113 yards and two touchdowns through the air as Michigan raced out to 17 straight points in the second half to beat the Badgers , 27 – 13 . The Badgers intercepted Chad Henne three times , but it was not enough to overcome the Wolverines ' powerful offense . Wisconsin , which had beaten Michigan in 2005 , had a five - game winning streak snapped . Michigan moved to 4 – 0 on the season . Indiana . The Badgers bounced back from their first loss of the season , racing out to a 52 – 0 lead over the hometeam Hoosiers en route to a dominating 52 – 17 victory . John Stocco threw for 304 yards and had three touchdown strikes by halftime , and P . J . Hill , Jr . had 129 yards and another three touchdowns for the Badgers . The Hoosiers were held to just 147 yards through three quarters . Paul Hubbard caught seven passes for 122 yards and a touchdown for the Badgers . Northwestern . For the second straight week , the Badger defense stepped up big , holding NU tailback Tyrell Sutton to just 18 yards on the ground . Wisconsin avenged last year ' s loss to the Wildcats with a punishing ground game , highlighted by P . J . Hill , Jr . ' s rumbling 60 - yard touchdown in the first quarter . In his best effort to date , Hill piled up 250 of the Badgers ' 316 yards on the ground as the Badgers prevailed . Minnesota . The Badgers hosted Minnesota in the battle for Paul Bunyan ' s Axe . The Badgers , who had moved into the AP rankings for the first time this season , prevailed 48 – 12 behind John Stocco ' s four touchdown passes , two to Travis Beckum , who also had 118 receiving yards . Stocco finished 12 - of - 19 for 193 yards . Jack Ikegwuonu opened the scoring by returning Amir Pinnix ' s first - quarter fumble 50 yards for a touchdown . P . J . Hill , Jr . racked up 164 yards and two more scores as the Badgers defended the Axe . Purdue . The Badgers moved into the Coaches Poll for the first time , ranked # 22 going into their showdown against Purdue . The Badger defense figured to get a good test against the Boilermakers offense , which led the Big Ten at over 470 yards a game entering the contest . Purdue managed only 299 yards and a field goal as the Badgers limited Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter to just 187 yards on 20 - of - 40 passing and an interception . P . J . Hill , Jr . ran for another two touchdowns and 160 yards . Illinois . The visiting Illini gave the # 18 Badgers a scare , as Illinois quarterback Juice Williams engineered three scoring drives in the second quarter to give the Illini a 24 – 10 lead at halftime . P . J . Hill , Jr . suffered a pinched nerve and left the game in the first quarter . Backup Lance Smith scored the Badgers ' only touchdown of the first half . John Stocco threw for two touchdowns and Taylor Mehlhaff kicked two field goals in the second half , and the defense held Illinois scoreless throughout the second half to prevail victorious , 30 – 24 . Penn State . The Badger defense stepped up in a huge way against Penn State , yielding only a field goal and 244 yards . Consistent pressure frustrated Nittany Lions quarterback Anthony Morelli , and the offense controlled the clock with 148 yards from P . J . Hill , Jr . . The Badgers won 13 – 3 to move to 9 – 1 on the season and their sixth straight victory . John Stocco suffered a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter . This game drew the ire of Penn State head coach Joe Paterno as the first half came to a close . Under the clock rules introduced at the beginning of the season , the clock began running immediately as the ball was kicked , rather than when it was fielded by the receiving team . Following a Stocco touchdown that gave the Badgers a 10 – 3 lead with 23 seconds to go , Coach Bielema deliberately ordered his kickoff unit to run offsides before Taylor Mehlhaff kicked off . Because the Badgers were offsides ( and thus further downfield ) , the Penn State special teams were unable to field the ball well , and thus would have had awful field position ; they instead elected to rekick . Wisconsin repeated the tactic , essentially running out the clock on the first half . Bielema ' s strategy was decried by many as unsportsmanlike ; others praised him for bringing light to a loophole in the new clock system . After the regular season , the clock rules were reverted to their pre - 2006 form . Iowa . After moving up to # 16 in the coaches poll , Wisconsin ended a two - game losing streak to the Hawkeyes with a 24 – 21 victory in Iowa City . With John Stocco sitting out due to injury , backup Tyler Donovan played an efficient game , going 17 - of - 24 for 228 yards and two touchdowns . Hawkeyes quarterback Drew Tate threw for Iowa ' s three touchdowns , but was frustrated all game , completing fewer than a third of his attempts . With the win , the Badgers completed conference play with a 7 – 1 mark , wrapping up a second place tie in the Big Ten . Buffalo . On Senior Day , the # 10 Badgers started sluggishly , but scored two touchdowns just before halftime and added two more in the second half to win decisively over Buffalo , 35 – 3 . Tyler Donovan once again performed proficiently , throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns with an interception on 16 - of - 26 , and the defense forced four turnovers and held Buffalo to just 159 yards . P . J . Hill , Jr . scored a touchdown and picked up 86 yards on the ground . With the win , the Badgers finished 11 – 1 , the best regular season in school history . There was a minor controversy concerning the Bowl Championship Series , whose rules state that only two teams from one conference may receive bids to BCS bowl games . Ohio State and Michigan were ranked ahead of the Badgers in the final BCS standings , granting those two schools BCS invitations and relegating the Badgers to a lesser bowl . Nevertheless , Wisconsin again accepted an invitation to the Capital One Bowl , where it would defend its championship against Arkansas . Capital One Bowl – Arkansas . The Badgers returned to Orlando to face the # 13 Razorbacks , led by Heisman Trophy runner - up Darren McFadden . McFadden burst for 45 yards on his first carry but was brought down from behind by Jack Ikegwuonu at the 9 - yard line , a pivotal play that led to a missed field goal by Arkansas . The Badgers led 17 – 7 at halftime behind John Stocco ' s two touchdown passes , and eventually survived a nailbiting second half in which the Razorbacks continually had great field position but failed to capitalize . Despite being held to - 5 rushing yards while giving up 232 , including 150 from Arkansas ' Felix Jones , the Badgers won 17 – 14 . John Stocco , playing in his final collegiate game , was named the game ' s MVP . The Badgers finished the season on a nine - game winning streak to reach # 5 in the final coaches poll and # 7 in the final AP poll . The 12 wins were a new single season record .