Wisconsin running back Anthony Davis was ready for a breakout season.

Throughout the summer, Davis’ name was all over the college football scene. From being a candidate for the Doak Walker Award for nation’s best running back, to a preseason first-team All-American in The Sporting News, he was touted as one of the best college football players in the nation. And Davis, finally healthy after missing five games last year to an ankle injury, was ready to show the nation he deserved the hype.

But Davis’ high aspirations came crashing down late in the second quarter of Wisconsin’s season-opener against Central Florida on Sept. 4. After breaking a 21-yard run, he collided with a UCF defender while running out of bounds. The subsequent collision with the turf fractured Davis’ right orbital bone, which is located beneath the eye and holds it in place.

Davis suffered from blurred vision and had difficulty looking down as a result of the fracture. While he went from specialist to specialist looking to alleviate the problems, the Badgers’ offense struggled without him.

Wisconsin relied on its defense to win games. The offense managed to score only 33 points in a three-game span. The Badgers were sputtering, and the cure sat on the sideline.

‘He’s critical (to the offense),’ Wisconsin offensive coordinator Brian White said. ‘He has big-play ability. We were severely lacking that big-play ability that Anthony brings.’

The team finally received some good news on Sept. 27. Team doctors declared Davis healthy and cleared him to play on Oct. 2 against Illinois.

‘It’s certainly nice to have Anthony Davis back in the lineup,’ Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said. ‘He brings so much to our offense and brings great leadership as well.’

After a full week of practice with the team, including some contact drills under his belt, Davis was ready to pick up were he left off.

Showing no signs of ever being injured, Davis ran over the Illinois defense for 213 yards rushing, including a 31-yard touchdown run on fourth down late in the game. Adding Davis cured the Wisconsin offense of all its ills, and it nearly matched its scoring total of the past three games with 24 points. While his performance could have surprised some, those who know Davis almost expected it.

‘We knew that he was a special player,’ Illinois head coach Ron Turner said. ‘He was able to break some big runs on us, most of them in short-yardage situations. We knew he was a great back and we had to play a really good ballgame to contain him.

‘Anthony is as good as there is in the country when he’s healthy. He’s very quick. He has great vision, great acceleration through the hole and excellent balance. There were times we missed some tackles and when you look at the film, we did everything right. He just has great strength and was able to come out of them.’

With a tough Big Ten conference schedule ahead, Wisconsin will assuredly face adversity. But Davis is no stranger to that.

‘I never put limitations on Anthony,’ White said. ‘He was healthy (on Saturday), but he missed three-and-a-half weeks. To perform at the level he did, let’s just stay I was pleased.’

Rice and San Jose State were scoring so fast on Oct. 2 that the sparse crowd of 4,093 may have gotten whiplash from watching the game.

Both teams scored at will, compiling 1,089 yards, 19 touchdowns and 133 total points. It set the mark for highest scoring regulation game in NCAA Division I-A history. And while San Jose St. came out on top, 70-66, both teams were proud to be part of the record-setting game.

‘They had plenty of opportunities to quit and they didn’t,’ Rice head coach Ken Hatfield said of San Jose St. ‘It was a wild, wacky game. There were some exciting moments.’

After being down 34-7 early in the second quarter, San Jose St. rode a series of big plays to get back into contention with Rice on Saturday. The Spartans’ comeback set the tone for the rest of the game.

‘We made too many mistakes,’ Hatfield said. ‘A good team doesn’t give up as many big plays as we did.’

Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang moved into second on the NCAA career passing yards list as inconspicuously as possible.

A shovel pass to running back West Keliikipi on Hawaii’s first drive against Tulsa went for 17 yards and put Chang ahead of former North Carolina State quarterback Phillip Rivers for the second spot.

Chang finished with 387 yards passing on Saturday. He needs 1,175 yards to break former Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer’s NCAA record of 15,031.

‘He’s much more focused coming into his last season,’ Hawaii coach June Jones said. ‘He’s just playing as good a football as I’ve seen him play.’

Published on October 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm