An inconsistent secondary proved to be a double-edged sword for the Wisconsin defense Saturday as the Badgers (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall) triumphed in an sloppy 41-24 contest head coach Barry Alvarez described as \very uncharacteristic of the way we've played all year.""
On a day without a cloud in the sky, 83,220 sun-drenched fans watched as the Badger cornerback trio of senior Brett Bell, sophomore Allan Langford and freshman Jack Ikegwuonu all found themselves on the giving and receiving end of big plays to previously undefeated Indiana (0-1 Big Ten, 3-1 overall).
After junior quarterback Junior Stocco guided the Badgers to a touchdown drive on their second possession of the game, the Hoosiers quickly struck back on an 83-yard touchdown pass from Indiana sophomore quarterback Blake Powers to freshman wide receiver James Hardy. Bell slipped and fell on the play allowing the Hoosier's dual sport start to break away uncovered deep into the Badger secondary and haul in the pass. The 6'7"" basketball player provided the Badgers with match up problems all day hauling in seven catches for 157 yards in his finest performance of the season.
Fans continued to watch the developing young cornerback tandem of Langford and Ikegwuonu as both players found themselves beaten badly on a few occasions, most notably a fake bubble-screen that went for a 47-yard touchdown, but also impressed by making two difficult interceptions.
""It's hard to get picks when you are playing man to man coverage, but the defense came up big,"" Alvarez said. ""Take a few plays out our defense played really well. I thought they did a pretty good job.""
Defensive coordinator Bret Bielema also highlighted the play of the young guns in the secondary, but stressed the need for a sustained effort and focus throughout the entire game.
""The hardest thing for young kids to learn is probably the consistency you need for four quarters."" Bielema said.
With the Badgers traveling to Northwestern (0-1 Big Ten, 2-2 overall) next weekend to take on another spread offense, the mistakes in the secondary will need to be cleaned up quickly.
""Obviously the offense we saw is going to be similar to the one we are going to see next week at Northwestern so there is going to be a lot of carryover as far as what we did well and what we didn't do well,"" Bielema explained.
""We just have to continue to get better,"" Langford said. ""We know now how teams are going to attack us. I think a lot of teams are going to attack us in three and four wide receiver packages. Try to spread the offense out a lot more.""
The Badger special teams remained a powerful force as sophomore Ken DeBauche and sophomore Taylor Mehlhaff continued to develop into one of the top kicking duos in the conference. Highlights included a 52-yard punt by DeBauche downed on the Hoosier three yard line and a 43-yard field goal by Mehlhaff. Once again, Senior wide receiver Brandon Williams gave teams good reason to think twice before kicking to him as he broke his second punt return touchdown of the season on a 63 yard sprint in the first quarter.
On the offensive front, running back Brian Calhoun remained on the respect of opposing defensive coordinators as Indiana repeatedly brought extra defenders into the box in an attempt to slow the speedy junior. While still having a relatively good game, 26 rushes for 101 yards and a touchdown, Calhoun found himself fighting hard for every yard. This opened the gates for a resurgent Badger passing attack in which junior quarterback John Stocco passed for 274 yards and three touchdowns, and senior wide receivers Brandon Williams and Jonathan Orr each went over the 100-yard mark with a combined three touchdown grabs.
""It's important that we can pass and run the ball because it forces our opponents to have to try and cover two aspect of the game,"" Orr said. ""We did think that this would be a good game to try and open things up a little bit and it worked out.""
Overall, Alvarez's sentiments on the game proved mixed, and he stressed the need to improve to avoid a letdown next week at Northwestern.
""We just were not crisp today,"" Alvarez said. ""I'm pleased with the win, but no, we did not play very well and we're going to have to correct a lot of things this week.""
