1980 Wisconsin Badgers football team

1980 Wisconsin Badgers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	4–7 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Dave McClain (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Dudley (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Triple option
Defensive coordinator	Jim Hilles (3rd season)
Base defense	3–4
MVP	Dave Ahrens
Captains	Dave Ahrens Joe Rothbauer
Home stadium	Camp Randall Stadium
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Michigan $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Ohio State	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Purdue	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Iowa	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Illinois	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Michigan State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1980 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third season under head coach Dave McClain, the Badgers finished in a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten Conference (Big Ten), compiled a 4–7 record (3–5 against Big Ten opponents), and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 211 to 138.^[1] The team played its home games in Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

The team's statistical leaders included John Josten with 622 passing yards, John Williams with 526 rushing yards, Tim Stracka with 462 receiving yards, and Jess Cole with 30 points.^[2] Tim Stracka also ranked sixth in the Big Ten with 16.5 yards per reception.^[3]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	No. 20 Purdue	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 6–12	77,280	[4]
September 20	BYU*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 3–28	71,496	[5]
September 27	at No. 16 UCLA*	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 0–35	40,018	[6]
October 4	San Diego State*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 35–12	76,340	[7]
October 11	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 0–24	51,029	[8]
October 18	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 17–7	76,173	[9]
October 25	No. 10 Ohio State	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 0–21	79,523	[10]
November 1	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	L 13–22	59,995	[11]
November 8	No. 12 Michigan	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 0–24	69,560	[12]
November 15	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 39–19	17,372	[13]
November 22	Minnesota	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	W 25–7	54,229	[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[1]

On September 13, Wisconsin opened its season with a 12–6 loss to #20 Purdue. Mark Herrmann of Purdue passed for 347 yards, including 200 yards to wide receiver Bart Burrell, but the Boilermakers were unable to score a touchdown, settling for four field goals.^[15]

On September 20, Wisconsin lost to BYU, 28–3, in Madison. BYU's Jim McMahon, winner of the 1981 Davey O'Brien Award and Sammy Baugh Trophy, passed for 337 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a fourth touchdown.^[16]

On September 27, Wisconsin lost to UCLA (AP No. 16), 35–7, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. UCLA's freshman running back Kevin Nelson rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries and also caught three passes for 36 yards. John Williams rushed for 101 yards for Wisconsin, but the Badgers were unable to score.^[17]

On October 4, Wisconsin defeated San Diego State, 35–12, in Madison. After failing to score a touchdown in its first three games, Wisconsin took a 21–0 lead over San Diego State in the second quarter. Defensive end Dave Ahrens had three sacks, and the Aztecs were held to minus four net rushing yards.^[18]

On October 11, Indiana defeated Wisconsin, 24–0, in front of a homecoming crowd of 51,029 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. Indiana's defense held Wisconsin to 204 yards of total offense (only 65 in the second half) and had seven tackles for loss. Quarterback Tim Clifford completed 17 of 25 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns.^[19]

On October 18, Wisconsin defeated Michigan State, 17–7, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Wisconsin fullback Dave Mohapp rushed for 138 yards and scored a touchdown. Wisconsin's second touchdown followed a fumbled punt that was recovered in the end zone by Mark Subach.^[20]

On October 25, Wisconsin lost to #10 Ohio State, 21–0, in Madison. Wisconsin's defense held Art Schlichter to 89 passing yards, but Ohio State scored touchdowns after two Wisconsin fumbles and an interception. After the game, Wisconsin coach Dave McClain said, "You can't make that many mistakes. I've never been so frustrated with the mistakes."^[21]

On November 1, Wisconsin lost to Iowa, 22–13, in Iowa City. In his first game as Iowa's starting quarterback, Pete Gales completed nine of 22 passes for 161 yards and rushed for 41 yards. One of Gales' completions was good for 54 yards and a touchdown to Keith Chappelle. Iowa scored another touchdown when Iowa linebacker Andre Tippett forced a fumble by Wisconsin quarterback John Josten, and Mark Bortz recovered the ball in the end zone.^[22]

On November 8, Wisconsin lost to #8 Michigan, 24–0, in Madison. Michigan struggled early, failing to earn a first down on its first six possessions. Anthony Carter caught a touchdown pass just before halftime to set a Michigan school record for touchdown receptions in a single season. As Michigan drove deep into Wisconsin territory, noise from the Wisconsin student section made it difficult for Michigan to call its signals. When fans refused to reduce the noise, the officials struck all three Wisconsin timeouts and then assessed two delay of game penalties, giving Michigan a first down at the one-yard line. Butch Woolfolk then scored on a one-yard run^[23]

On November 15, Wisconsin defeated Northwestern, 39–19, in Evanston. Northwestern's Mike Kerrigan passed for 237 yards in the loss.^[24] The Wildcats finished the season 0–11 and in the midst of a 34-game losing streak that began on September 22, 1979, and ended on September 25, 1982

On November 22, in the annual battle for Paul Bunyan' Axe, Wisconsin defeated Minnesota, 25–7, at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Wisconsin quarterback, Jess Cole, in his second start, scored four touchdowns.^[25] Cole started in place of John Josten, who had re-injured an ankle the previous week versus Northwestern.^[26]

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP MINN WISC 1 29 Wisconsin Jess Cole 1-yard touchdown run, Mark Doran kick no good 0 6 1 80 Minnesota Tim Salem 1-yard touchdown run, Jim Gallery kick good 7 6 3 Wisconsin Jess Cole 52-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass failed 7 12 4 Wisconsin Jess Cole 1-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass incomplete 7 18 4 39 Wisconsin Jess Cole 1-yard touchdown run, Mark Doran kick good 7 25 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 25

1980 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Jess Cole Fr RB 23 Chucky Davis (I) So G 57 John Dixon Sr OT 70 Jerry Doerger Jr TE 93 Mike Fixmer Sr TE 37 Craig Fredrick Jr FB 36 Gerald Green So QB 8 Paul Hughes Jr QB 13 John Josten Jr G 71 Leo Joyce Sr RB 35 Troy King So RB 20 Thad McFadden Fr FB 28 Dave Mohapp Jr QB 16 Kevin Motl Sr WR 22 Marvin Neal So OT 68 Mark Orszula Sr TE 84 Greg Rabas Jr OT 63 Tom Reber Sr RB 33 Curtis Richardson Jr C 59 Joe Rothbauer (C) Sr TE 81 Joe Ruetz Sr WR 34 Al Seamonson Jr WR 42 Tim Stracka Jr G 53 Mark Subach So G 73 Melvin Terrell Fr OT 58 Ron Versnik Jr OT 74 Carlton Walker Fr C 51 Ted Walter Sr RB 1 John Williams So G 79 Bob Winckler So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 41 Dave Ahrens (C) Sr CB 29 Ross Anderson Sr DT 92 Scott Bergold Fr DT 85 Curt Blaskowski Sr LB 95 Guy Boliaux Jr DT 77 Tom Booker So LB 32 Kyle Borland So CB 25 Pat Delaney Sr S, P 31 David Greenwood So DT 72 Mike Herrington So DT 90 Thomas Houston Sr NT 50 Tim Krumrie So LB 47 Dave Levenick Sr LB 46 Richard Lewis Sr LB 94 Jeff Luko Jr CB 45 Von Mansfield Jr S 11 Dan Messenger Jr S 43 Sankar Montoute So LB 44 Jody O'Donnell So CB 5 Marshall Richards Sr DT 56 Dean Seis Sr LB 99 Ed Senn So DT 76 Mark Shumate Jr CB 9 Clint Sims So DT 60 Darryl Sims Fr LB 49 Larry Spurlin Jr CB 2 Ron Steverson Jr S 27 Vaughn Thomas Jr CB 5 Jerry Vance Fr S 39 Matt Vanden Boom Jr S 7 John Westphal Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class S, P 31 David Greenwood So K 24 Mark Doran Fr K 6 Wendell Gladem Fr K 3 Pat Hady So	Head coach Dave McClain Coordinators/assistant coaches Bill Dudley – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks and Receivers Jim Hilles – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Doug Graber – Defensive Backs Arnold Jeter – Defensive Line Cliff Knox – Running Backs Mike Nelson – Defensive Ends Bob Palcic – Tackles and Tight Ends Mario Russo – Centers and Guards Terry Murawski – Administrative Assistant Jerry Fishbain – Recruiting Coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Dave Ahrens	Linebacker	6	143	St. Louis Cardinals

^[27]