Badgers' success hinges on Calhoun

North Carolina defensive coordinator Marvin Sanders will have to draw up a little bit of a different game plan after spending nearly all of last weekend's game in Atlanta defending the pass.

The Tar Heel defense will have to change gears today, as the run-focused Wisconsin Badgers look to tire out the UNC defense with a consistent ground game.

The Badgers will look to continue feeding junior running back Brian Calhoun, just as they have done so far this season.

"(Wisconsin), as you know, has scored a thousand points here in the first two games," Coach John Bunting joked. "They have run for a thousand yards. (Wisconsin) is powerful up front."

Despite the fact that Ga. Tech stopped running the ball, they were still successful when they did hand the ball off, averaging 3.7 yards a carry against the Tar Heel defense.

Like Ga. Tech, Calhoun hopes to capitalize on the ground today against the Tar Heels.

In the first two games of the season, Calhoun has averaged a whopping 27 carries a game and has put up 150 yards per game.

Calhoun also definitely can put the ball into the end zone, amassing six touchdowns in the first two games of the year.

"I can't think of a running back we've played here in my four years and one game as here that's as good as (Calhoun)," Bunting said. "He's outstanding."

After the season opener against Bowling Green, Calhoun was named National Offensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Calhoun also received Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors, and he was nominated for USATODAY.com's Player of the Week.

Calhoun doesn't follow the mold of former UW bruising backs, such as Ron Dayne, as Calhoun will use his speed to try and knife through the UNC defense.

"From what I've heard, he likes to get outside more than other Wisconsin running backs in the past who go straight downhill - he likes to get outside and run on the sidelines," said UNC linebacker Doug Justice. "We have to get out there and be fast and get him down."

He also runs for the UW track team and was a member of the 2005 Big Ten Champion 1,600-meter relay team.

"(Calhoun) has incredible acceleration,"

Bunting said. "He has a gift that you don't coach. He really has a tremendous

feel for running the football. Our hands will be totally full with that run game."

Perhaps the most astonishing thing about Calhoun is the fact that he has been able to perform at a high level in two completely different football environments.

He spent his first two years of his collegiate career at the University of Colorado, and he led the Buffaloes in rushing for the 2003 season.

"The thing that really impressed me was a guy who had been a starter in a big-time program comes in, doesn't look down his nose or feel that it's demeaning to him to run on the scout team," Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez said last week following his team's victory

over Bowling Green.

The Tar Heels should know what to expect from Wisconsin, a team that has thrown the ball only 35 times in its first two games compared to 116 rushing

attempts.

It will be Calhoun, Calhoun, and then some more Calhoun for Wisconsin today.

"The problem with not only the run game being extremely physical - as I call bludgeon ball - they will bludgeon

you," Bunting said. "If you are to stop them eight out of 10 times, if you are to do that, those two other times Calhoun can take it the distance."