WEST VIRGINIA Mountaineers look to put pressure on Wisconsin

Wisconsin used a strong passing attack to beat West Virginia last season.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- No. 21 Wisconsin can only hope time is again on its side today at West Virginia.
The Badgers' quarterbacks had ample amounts of it in a lopsided win over the Mountaineers in 2002, and West Virginia's pass rush is among the biggest question marks entering this season.
Wisconsin used a 27-point second quarter to build a 34-3 lead and eventually won 34-17 in Madison, Wis. Brooks Bollinger had great protection and found his wide receivers wide open on short and long patterns.
"Given what we did last year, it's going to be critical," said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. "If we let them stand around for 10 seconds like we did, we're going to be in for a long day."
Four of the Mountaineers' top six tacklers graduated and this year's starting defensive linemen, Ernest Hunter, Fred Blueford and Ben Lynch, didn't rank among the top 20.
But Wisconsin has three new starters on the offensive line -- tackles Mike Lorenz and Morgan Davis and center Donovan Raiola -- and the Badgers allowed a Big Ten-high 46 sacks last season.
Applying pressure
West Virginia has put an emphasis in preseason drills on getting pressure in the offensive backfield.
"We want to dictate what goes on in that game," said Grant Wiley, West Virginia's All-Big East linebacker.
Wisconsin has plenty of weapons back to give the Mountaineers fits.
Anthony Davis had 75 yards on 19 carries against West Virginia last year but his 3,021 yards over the last two seasons is the best in the nation.
Senior wideout Lee Evans returns from a knee injury that has sidelined him since November 2001, adding to an arsenal alongside sophomores Jonathan Orr and Brandon Williams.
"I feel confident. Going through fall camp, it's got me back into the rhythm of the offense," Evans said. "I can get separation and get downfield."
Jim Sorgi takes over for the departed Bollinger with an 0-5 record as a starter dating to 2000. But he's won as a backup in games entered when the Badgers were tied or behind.
"Nobody, I mean nobody, looks at him like, 'He hasn't won a game starting,' " Evans said. "It wasn't necessarily Jim's fault. Some of the games he played really well."
Strength against strength
On defense, Wisconsin returns nine of 11 starters, including linebackers Alex Lewis and Jeff Mack, both on the Butkus Award watch list. They'll challenge a West Virginia rushing attack that ranked second in the nation last season.
West Virginia's Quincy Wilson replaces Big East career rushing leader Avon Cobourne. Four others are battling for Wilson's former backup spot.
Wilson, who ran for 901 yards a year ago, had just one carry against Wisconsin. He left the game for good after hurting his neck on a first-quarter punt play.
Perhaps the biggest threat to Wisconsin is Mountaineer quarterback Rasheed Marshall, who had just 1,616 passing yards a year ago but broke Michael Vick's Big East record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 666.
Marshall had 79 yards rushing and 219 passing against the Badgers last season.