A score of 34-10 against a Division 1-AA opponent surely sounds underwhelming. Relative to expectation, a 24-point margin of victory is scant. But to be troubled by the Badgers' sub-par play is to overlook their understandable lack of urgency.
Perfection is a nice goal for an early season game; players must know what it feels like to play well and succeed if they have any chance of pursuing and repeating that success against better teams later in the season. But the Western Illinois Leathernecks posed no threat to UW's season, and on some level the players knew it—even if it was a step back in terms of preparation for the likes of Michigan two weeks from now. According to players and staff, the defense had the hardest time executing its scheme.
""We won the game but it wasn't mistake-free like the head coach wants,"" said senior safety Roderick Rogers, who tipped a pass that was intercepted by Allen Langford on the first play of the fourth quarter.
""I don't think we tackled well,"" head coach Bret Bielema said. ""I counted four occasions—two in the first half and two right away in the second half—where we should have been off the field on third down if we had just made the tackle. And that concerns me because that is the basic element of football.""
On the same day Pop Warner teams are taught the elementary lesson of tackling, they are taught to listen to their head coach. The Badgers are clearly listening, and when asked about their thoughts, they tend to repeat Bielema's sentiments, as if they are reading from a press release.
""I didn't like the way they creased us up the middle a little bit, but we really did feel, coming in, that their quarterback was going to try to go a little bit more to the air,"" Bielema said in reference to his team yielding a modest 80 yards rushing on the day.
""They rushed for too many yards,"" senior linebacker Mark Zalewski said, echoing the concerns of his coach.
Apparently Wisconsin initially did not—and still does not—think much of Western Illinois' running attack, considering that they are disappointed with the 80 yards on 22 carries they allowed. But high expectations, for now, may be a good thing as they draw on this week's minor mistakes and gear up for one more game of preparation before Michigan.
""It's always a positive to get the win, that's always the number one goal,"" senior safety Joe Stellmacher said. ""But I don't think we improved as much as we wanted to.""
Nevertheless, as the saying goes, a win is a win. The rush defense, they say, is worrisome, but the micro-results of Saturday's game have no long-term implications. Each player truly knows, on every level, when their best is not just expected, but needed.
The first real test takes place Sept. 23 in the Big Ten opener against Michigan at the Big House in Ann Arbor.
