There seems to be nothing Chris Borland can't do on a football field. And the Wisconsin star linebacker might be adding to his growing legend.
Badgers coach Gary Andersen said on Thursday night that sophomore Jack Russell had supplanted Kyle French as the team's starting field goal kicker. But he added that if the Wisconsin needed a long field goal from 45 yards or longer at Illinois on Saturday, he'd give Borland a chance. And he wasn't kidding.
Borland made three extra points in a game during his freshman season. Andersen said he was 2-for-2 in practice from long range.
"He is good at anything he tries to do athletically it seems," Andersen said. "We tried it a few weeks ago and he made it. We worked a little bit more this week, timing it up and giving him a little bit coaching. Not too much coaching, though. We don’t want to take it out of him. We’ll let him go."
Field goals have been an adventure for the Badgers the past two seasons. French was just 5-of-8 this season and was replaced after a miss last week versus Northwestern. His career will come to an end early, as he will forgo his senior year next season. Russell, whose name opens up so many possibilities for dog-related puns that I can barely handle my excitement, is 0-for-3 in his career on field goals.
Andersen might need to make recruiting a kicker a priority going forward. In the meantime, why not Borland?
