MORGANTOWN, West Virginia (Ticker) -- After sputtering for three quarters, Wisconsin went to its favorite weapon when the game was on the line.
Anthony Davis rushed for 167 yards on 30 carries, including a tiebreaking two-yard touchdown with 2:57 remaining, as the 20th-ranked Badgers rallied from a 10-point deficit to defeat West Virginia, 24-17, in the season opener for both teams.
Lee Evans, who was redshirted last season after suffering a knee injury in spring practice and underwent two surgeries, enjoyed a successful return for the Badgers.
Wisconsin tied the game on Evans' 20-yard TD reception with 13:02 left in the fourth quarter. Evans had seven receptions for 70 yards in his first game since November 2001.
Davis, who ran for more yards than any other running back the last two years, got a bid for a third straight 1,000-yard season off to a good start. The Badgers wore down the Mountaineers in the second half, repeatedly giving the ball to Davis, who averaged 5.6 yards per carry.
"It certainly wasn't clean," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said. "We made some first-game mistakes but we'll learn from them. We started off slow but turned it around in the second half."
The Badgers featured a balanced attack, rushing for 223 yards and passing for 215. Jim Sorgi, who was playing with an injured pinky of his throwing hand and had some trouble with snaps, completed 20-of-34 passes for 215 yards in his first start for Wisconsin.
"It tells you a lot about our resiliency as a team," Alvarez said of the Badgers' ability to rally from a 17-7 deficit. "It took a lot of character to come back like that in the atmosphere we were in. I think it really carried over from our last two wins last season."
West Virginia's hopes ended when Rasheed Marshall was sacked by Alex Lewis on 4th-and-2 inside the West Virginia 35 with less than two minutes left. Wisconsin ran out the clock.
"We didn't execute well today," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. "If we played better we would have won."
The Badgers stunned the West Virginia crowd on the first series of the game as Todd James blocked R.J. Morse's punt and linebacker Kareem Timbers recovered in the end zone to give Wisconsin a 7-0 lead just 1:16 into the contest.
"We've worked as hard on punting as we ever had," Rodriguez said. "We had some things happen that we need to correct."
But Adam Jones' 81-yard return on the ensuing kickoff set up Brad Cooper's 27-yard field goal and the Mountaineers took a 10-7 lead on the first of Quincy Wilson's two touchdowns, a 10-yard yard run with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.
Wisconsin was its own worst enemy for three quarters, managing just three points on its first four trips into West Virginia territory. The Badgers missed two field goals and turned the ball over on downs.
Sorgi fumbled three snaps from center in the second half.
Wilson's three-yard TD run gave gave West Virginia a 17-7 lead 3:50 into the third quarter before the Badgers came alive.
Wilson, taking over as West Virginia's feature back after backing up Avon Cobourne for the past three years, rushed for 99 yards on 24 carries.
Marshall, who was knocked out of the game with five minutes left in the first period before returning in the third quarter, completed 10-of-16 passes for 98 yards. His backup, Charles Hales, was 5-of-10 for 40 yards.
Wisconsin closed to 17-10 on Scott Campbell's 29-yard field goal with 5:36 left in the third.
The Badgers drove to a first-and-goal but the drive stalled after Sorgi fumbled his third snap and the Badgers had to settle for a field goal.
Wisconsin improved to 4-0 in the all-time series. The previous three games were played in Madison, including a 34-17 Badgers' win last season.
