Michael Bennett is.

The Big Ten sprint champion who bypassed a spot in the Olympics so he could play football this fall rushed for 290 yards on 28 carries and scored two long touchdowns as fifth-ranked Wisconsin outlasted Oregon 27-23 on Saturday.

Wisconsin running back Michael Bennett breaks away for one of his two TDs.(AP)

Wisconsin got three interceptions from star cornerback Jamar Fletcher, whom coach Barry Alvarez had considered sitting out.

As it was, the Badgers (2-0) had to do without a dozen players who were suspended for receiving unadvertised discounts at a shoe store.

For two more weeks, against Cincinnati and Northwestern, the Badgers will be missing key components -- including Fletcher -- of a team that hopes to contend for the national title.

Alvarez got to choose which players had to sit out Saturday and he selected four starters, including cornerback Mike Echols, whose substitute, B.J. Tucker, was repeatedly burned by the Ducks (1-1), especially Marshaun Tucker, whose six catches covered 196 yards.

Alvarez criticized the NCAA for not hearing his appeal of Echols' one-game suspension in a timely manner. v``I guess the NCAA must shut its doors at 5 o'clock on Friday,'' Alvarez fumed. ``They couldn't make their decision and had to go to committee. And the committee's not around until Monday.

``After dealing with them this week, I'm not confident in anything that they do. Anything. I have no confidence in them. I don't have any confidence in them whatsoever because I don't know that they understand kids or care about kids.''

But Fletcher and Bennett kept the Badgers' title hopes alive.

Bennett, held to 32 yards in the first half, scored on runs of 59 and 75 yards in the third quarter and set up another TD with a career-long 83-yard burst with 5½ minutes left in the game.

Oregon had just taken a 23-20 lead on linebacker Matt Smith's 47-yard interception return -- Wisconsin's first turnover in five games -- when Bennett ran off left guard and didn't stop until Rashad Bauman dragged him down by the face mask at the 1.

Brooks Bollinger, 10-0 as a starter, scored on a keeper on the next play to cap the scoring in a wild second half that had three lead changes.

``I just tried to put that out of my mind,'' Bollinger said of his first pickoff in 150 passes. ``There was no doubt in my mind we were going to go down and score -- and maybe come up with a huge play to make it a little easier.''

Bennett's 290 yards on 28 carries is the fourth-best in school history. Only Ron Dayne, whom he replaced, and Billy Marek ever did better.

``He may have just grown up to be a great running back,'' Alvarez said.

Bennett said was intent on imitating last year's Heisman winner.

``I wanted to be able to carry this team like Ron did and just be a playmaker,'' Bennett said.

Quarterback Joey Harrington, who lost for the first time in six games as Oregon's starter, was victimized by several drops, including two on the Ducks' desperation drive that ended when Fletcher picked off a fourth-down pass at his 11 with 11 seconds left.

Harrington, who completed 22 of 49 passes for 362 yards, hit Marshaun Tucker with a 71-yard completion against B.J. Tucker and found LaCorey Collins for a 17-yard TD connection on the next play that pulled the Ducks to 20-16 late in the third quarter.

Wisconsin, which barely beat Western Michigan in its opener just three hours after the NCAA handed down 26 suspensions ranging from one to three games, trailed 6-0 at halftime.

But Bennett was just warming up.

He sprinted around left end and ran 59 yards untouched for a touchdown that gave Wisconsin a 7-6 lead three minutes into the third quarter.

Linebacker Ryan Marks burst through the line, blocked punter Kurtis Doerr's punt at the goal line and fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown and a 14-6 Badgers lead.

Two plays after Josh Frankel's third field goal, a 42-yarder, made it 14-9, Bennett broke a tackle in the backfield and rumbled 75 yards for his second touchdown and a 20-9 lead.

``We knew what he was capable of doing,'' Ducks coach Mike Bellotti said. ``We had him pretty much in check in the first half. He's capable, anytime he gets a step, of going all the way. We missed tackles and had unblocked people in the hole who missed or he made them miss. He's not a good back, but a great back.''

Fletcher said he approached his coaching staff last week and asked to play against the Ducks.

``I'm not overlooking Cincinnati or Northwestern, but I just felt that Oregon was a tough team, especially on offense,'' said Fletcher, who also took a couple snaps at wide receiver with Nick Davis and Chris Chambers serving their suspensions.

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