They’ve been waiting for this one

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 | 10:15 a.m.

Wisconsin players were still in the midst of celebrating an impressive 34-6 season-opening victory against Central Florida last week when the topic of playing UNLV on Saturday was broached.

The question apparently struck a raw nerve or two.

"They've had it coming," senior offensive tackle Morgan Davis replied. "We shot ourselves in the foot and everybody is ready for it. We've been looking forward to this game."

Senior cornerback Scott Starks added: "We've got kind of a bad taste in our mouth."

The Badgers have had a year to live with last season's stunning 23-5 home loss to the Rebels. Wisconsin entered the game 2-0, ranked 14th in the nation in the Associated Press poll, and was a 20-point favorite.

But on a dark, rainy and windy day at Camp Randall Stadium, the Badgers turned the ball over five times and yielded eight sacks. UNLV, which had lost to Wisconsin at home, 27-7, a year earlier, left town with perhaps the biggest win in school history.

Now the teams meet for a third consecutive year in what might be called the rubber match of the most recent part of the series.

The Rebels (0-1), trying to bounce back from a 42-17 loss at Tennessee in their opener on Sunday night, know the Badgers will be out for revenge this time around.

"I'm pretty sure they're looking at last year's game as a fluke," offensive guard Joe Critchfield said. "We're looking at it that we have to play the same way we did last year there."

Quarterback Kurt Nantkes added: "We know that they're going to be hungry for us. We know that they feel that we didn't win the game but they just gave it to us. We've got to go out and prove that wasn't the case."

Wisconsin, which will be without starting tailback Anthony Davis (eye injury), was its own worst enemy against the Rebels last year, particularly on offense. The Badgers had the ball inside Rebels territory nine times and managed just a field goal.

UNLV wasn't much better, finishing with just 187 yards in total offense and 11 first downs. But the Rebels managed to parlay three Badgers fumbles and two interceptions into three touchdowns, including two touchdown passes from Nantkes to wide receiver Earvin Johnson, as well as a 55-yard fumble return by All-American safety Jamaal Brimmer.

"We've got to finish our drives there," Nantkes said. "If we get a short field, we have to take advantage of it."

Even with Davis out, the Rebels expect the Badgers to try to overpower them up front with a big, physical offensive line and a backfield that includes highly touted sophomore tailback Booker Stanley and bulldozer-like fullback Matt Bernstein (6-foot-2, 264 pounds).

"Wisconsin is known to be a power football team," Rebels linebacker Adam Seward said. "They have a good set of running backs even without Davis. The people they recruit are guys that can hit and guys that can run. From a defensive standpoint, we don't think they're going to change their offense at all. I wouldn't if I was them."

Nantkes was asked if the team was more confident heading back to Madison after upsetting the Badgers there a year ago.

"We're confident, not necessarily because we've been there and won, but because we're a good team," Nantkes said. "We're not afraid of any team on our schedule. We feel we can compete with any team on our schedule."

Still, as UNLV coach John Robinson said this week, the Badgers figure "to be more focused on this game."

"We beat them last year so they're out to show everybody that it was fluke, that a Mountain West team can't beat a Big Ten team," Seward said. "But we don't really care. They're just another football team as far as we're concerned."

Critchfield said: "They're looking for revenge but we're just looking for a victory. We need a victory right now."