Cornerbacks sneaked back into MSU game
Starters ‘volunteered’ to preserve shutout
MADISON – As they stood on the Wisconsin sideline and tried to stay warm, four key members of UW's secondary began to wonder if a potential shutout was going to be ruined.
Cornerbacks Faion Hicks and Rachad Wildgoose and safeties Eric Burrell and Reggie Pearson watched Michigan State drive from its side of midfield inexorably closer to the UW end zone
With a 38-0 lead and less than two minutes remaining, UW had its third Big Ten victory and sixth victory overall secured.
But the DBs wanted the shutout.
“We were saying: ‘Keep the goose egg,'” Wildgoose explained.
After pass plays of 19, 18 and 15 yards, the Spartans had a first down at the UW 20.
“Rachad was out for almost a quarter,” Pearson said. “Me and Eric, we were already in our jackets, all zipped up.
“And then they started moving the ball. We were like: ‘They can't
get a field goal.’”
After an incompletion on first down, Hicks decided it was time to get back into the game. He led Wildgoose onto the field and they replaced cornerbacks Caesar Williams and Donte Burton, respectively.
“Once they got in the red zone, me and Goose came in,” Hicks said, grinning. “We didn’t want them to score.” One problem.
Head coach Paul Chryst didn’t send the duo back in.
Neither did defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
“We volunteered,” Hicks said, grinning.
Wildgoose added: “I just followed Faion onto the field, to be honest.” Another problem. Wildgoose had been out so long his legs had tightened. He was stretching just before the snap.
“I was cold,” Wildgoose acknowledged. “I didn’t play like the whole fourth quarter.”
Facing second and 10 with 31 seconds left, reserve quarterback Rocky Lombardi dropped back to pass and scanned the field. He tried to hit wide receiver Cody White in the middle of the field.
The ball was high, however, in part because linebacker Mike Maskalunas dropped into coverage and was between Lombardi and White. White got his hands on the ball but wasn’t able to make the catch and the ball popped into the air and into the hands of Wildgoose in the end zone.
“I knew they’re definitely going to throw the ball,” Wildgoose said. “I’ve just got to do my job. And I did my job. I got a gift. It bounced right off his hands.”
Wildgoose gained 11 yards before his legs told him to stop running.
“I couldn’t really run after I caught the ball,” he said. “So I just fell.”
So when did Leonhard know he that Hicks, his new assistant secondary coach, had called for a lineup change?
“That play is when I saw them,” Leonhard said with a sheepish grin. “I said: ‘All right, Goose is back in.’" Leonhard understood. “Obviously, the competitive side comes out," he said. "You’ve got a shutout going and you know how hard those are to come by. They’re coming more frequent than you’d anticipate right now, which is awesome.
“It is the heat of the battle … it is fun.” Obviously, that could have changed if either Hicks or Wildgoose suffered an injury. They didn’t, however, and Wildgoose’s interception with 21 seconds left secured UW’s fourth shutout in six games.
“Good thing we made a play, I guess,” Pearson said, smiling. “If we didn’t there might have been some words. But we do our thing.”