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DALLAS (FWAA) – With their 20-17 win over Purdue, the Wisconsin
Badgers are the FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week,
as selected by the pollsters of the FWAA's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll
for games of the weekend of Oct. 16.
Scott Starks returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown with 2:36 remaining
to cap the comeback win in West Lafayette and give the Badgers just their
second 7-0 record since 1912. Wisconsin had trailed, 17-7, with 8:32 left
in the game.
"I've been in this racket for a long time," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez
said. "And I've never been part of a game like this."
The Badgers are the second Big Ten team in three weeks to earn the weekly
national honor. Northwestern, after upsetting Ohio State, was the FedEx
Orange Bowl National Team of the Week two weeks ago.
Other FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend
of Oct. 16 included:
• Florida State (5-1): Lorenzo Booker rushed for a career-high
123 yards and two touchdowns the Seminoles won for the fifth straight
time.
• Michigan State (4-3): The Spartans piled up 636 yards of total
offense, including a school-record 410 from quarterback Drew Stanton,
in a 51-17 rout of Minnesota.
• Texas A&M (5-1): Reggie McNeal threw for 288 yards and ran
for another 98, accounting for four touchdowns as the Aggies moved to
3-0 in Big 12 play with a 36-20 upset win at Oklahoma State.
• USC (6-0): The Trojans won their 15th straight game as Matt
Leinart threw four touchdown passes in a 45-7 dismantling of Arizona State
at the Coliseum.
The FWAA has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season.
This is the first season that the award has been sponsored by the FedEx
Orange Bowl.
The 16 pollsters of the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll decide the weekly
honor. Each Monday during the 2004 college football season, the FWAA will
name the FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week through Nov. 29. This
season, FedEx Orange Bowl will match the two top-ranked teams in the final
BCS standings. It will be played at Miami's Pro Player Stadium on Jan. 4,
2005.
The Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll has resumed this season and will be
released each Monday. The top-ranked team in the final poll will be awarded
the Grantland Rice Trophy as the FWAA's national champion. The FWAA has
awarded the trophy each season since 1954.
For more information on the FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week,
go to www.footballwriters.com
or www.orangebowl.org.
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