Chris Borland ties Big Ten record with fifth Defensive Player of the Week honor

MADISON, Wis. -- Chris Borland required little time to make
his presence felt Saturday against BYU, tracking down quarterback Taysom Hill
out of bounds for a 1-yard loss on the Cougars' first play from scrimmage.

Borland spent the rest of the game, too, wreaking havoc, and
his play was rewarded Monday by the Big Ten. Wisconsin's senior linebacker was
named the conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Week after recording 13
tackles and matching his career best with two sacks during a 27-17 victory.

Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory shared the honor with
Borland this week. Gregory tallied a career-high three sacks in Nebraska's
17-13 victory against Michigan on Saturday.

Borland registered his 16th career double-digit tackle game
and his fourth this season. This marks his fifth career Defensive Player of the
Week honor, which ties him with Penn State's Paul Posluszny for the most in
conference history. The last time a Wisconsin player earned the tribute was
Borland on Sept. 24, 2012.

"Pretty much every week he surprises me on and off the
field," Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen said Monday during his weekly news
conference. "He really does. Consistent, but it's consistent greatness out
of him. That might be the thing that surprises me the most is his ability to
sustain and maintain and just keep plowing through it and stay focused."

Borland missed nearly two games -- seven quarters, to be
exact -- before being cleared to play against BYU. He sustained a hamstring
injury during the first quarter against Illinois on Oct. 19 and then missed a
Nov. 2 road game against Iowa.

Andersen said he hoped that time off doesn't cost Borland an
opportunity to win his share of postseason awards. Borland recently was named
one of 16 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the nation's
best defensive player. He is a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and a
quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. He also was named to preseason
award watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Lombardi Award.

"I think what he's done over the years should offset
the fact that he had a little bit of an injury this year that kept him out of, what, I
guess, seven quarters if you look at it at the end of the day is what it would
be," Andersen said. "I think with what Chris has done, his
reputation, what he does off the field should surely offset that. Does he win?
I sure hope he'd make the short list on all those lists because I think he's
very, very deserving."

Despite missing time, Borland still leads the team in total
tackles (70), tackles for loss (5.5), sacks (four) and quarterback hurries
(three). Safety Michael Caputo is second on the team in tackles with 52.

Borland noted it was "probably in people's minds"
that he did not play in nearly two games when it came to postseason awards.
Whether voters hold it against Borland remains to be seen.

"I've got no idea what goes into the process of
selecting people for awards," Borland said. "Yeah, hopefully they're
responsible about it. But I really don’t care."

Hoosiers RB hurt: Indiana running back Tevin Coleman earned
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday. But the Hoosiers'
standout sophomore may miss Saturday's game, IU coach Kevin Wilson said Monday.

Coleman suffered a sprained ankle late in Indiana's 52-35
victory against Illinois and is unlikely to play against Wisconsin at Camp
Randall Stadium. Coleman ran 15 times for a career-best 215 yards against the
Illini, with touchdown runs of 64 and 75 yards. No Indiana player had rushed
for more yards over the past 12 years.

This season, Coleman leads Indiana in rushing yards (958)
and rushing touchdowns (12). He is averaging 106.4 yards per game.

"He's a great player," Andersen said. "He's
proven it week in and week out."

Andersen noted backup tailback Stephen Houston was plenty
capable of filling in for Coleman. Houston has rushed for 536 yards and three
touchdowns and is averaging 7.3 yards per carry -- the same as Coleman.

Coleman has eight rushes this season of 40 yards or more. No
other player in college football has more than five.

"Tevin, he catches your eye right away," Andersen
said. "He runs the ball. He's physical. He's tough minded, he's very fast.
He's outrun a lot of defenses. It's four or five runs of 40-plus yards this
year for touchdowns. They'll miss him, but they've got other talented kids to
go around."

Improved Pedersen: Badgers tight end Jacob Pedersen asked
his quarterback and position coach for more touches a few weeks ago. And
statistics show he's getting his wish.

In the first six games he played this season, Pedersen was
averaging 29.7 yards receiving per game. The past two, he has averaged 61.0
yards per game.

Pedersen, the reigning Big Ten Tight End of the Year, has
caught 24 passes this season for 300 yards with three touchdowns. But he has
caught nine passes for 122 yards with one touchdown over the past two games.

Andersen said the offense was looking for Pedersen more,
particularly since he returned from a sprained MCL earlier in the season --
which caused him to miss the Ohio State game back on Sept. 28.

"After he came off the injury and got himself healthy,
he's such a mismatch problem, and you see him continually catch contested
balls," Andersen said. "He runs great routes. He causes some real
issues. I think we definitely made an effort to get the ball to him more. It's
making him more productive, and it's making our offense better, too."

Voltz to start: Andersen announced redshirt freshman Dan
Voltz would start his second consecutive game at center against Indiana. Voltz
started on Saturday against BYU after Dallas Lewallen sustained a leg injury
one week earlier at Iowa.

"It's early, obviously," Andersen said of
Lewallen's status. "The progress that we made through the weekend is good,
but not to the point where we say, 'Hey, let's go out there and be ready for a
Tuesday practice.'"

If Voltz indeed starts Saturday, it will mark his third
start this season. He was slated to be the team's No. 1 center in fall camp but
suffered a hamstring injury and lost out on the starting job to Lewallen.