For once, the Badgers' repetitive and near-sighted mantra made sense; on Saturday against Bowling Green, they did play hard, and were finally able to go 1-0. But while starting the season with a win is nothing new, almost everything else was.
Some old faces popped up in new positions, and some young talent was on display for the first time. Bret Bielema, last year's defensive coordinator under Barry Alvarez, made his coaching debut in his team's 35-14 win as he watched all three of his units gauge the in-game ability of its new personnel.
Wisconsin's inexperience on defense showed. The Badgers made Bowling Green's offense—which was nothing more than a makeshift game-plan due to the suspension of their starting quarterback—look enigmatic for the first three quarters. They allowed 219 yards on the ground but, to their credit, held the offense to just two scores. Even more encouraging was the fact that Jonathan Casillas and DeAndre Levy played well in their first career starts at linebacker. Levy played solid, mistake-free defense and Casillas recorded 12 tackles.
But while Casillas had as good of a day as anyone else at his new position, he changed the course of the game while playing his old one. Reminiscent of his famous game-winning punt block against Minnesota last season, he blocked and recovered Alonso Rojas' punt early in the second quarter to give Wisconsin the lead for good.
""The coaches just put me in a good situation,"" Casillas said. ""The punt block was a single block; I was the only one rushing. They kind of knew that the tackle back there wasn't going to hinge out on me so it was just a matter of me getting there.""
Even though Bowling Green could not compete with UW's talent, the game itself presented its own challenge as the Badgers relied on young players on the offense that were playing a new position for the first time, or seeing their first action in a Division I game.
Wisconsin's top two leading rushers and top four leading receivers were guys that had never before played their position in a Badger uniform. Redshirt freshman P.J. Hill ran for 130 yards and a score, drawing Ron Dayne comparisons because of his size and his ability to break tackles. Travis Beckum, who came to UW as a potential outside linebacker, made a seemingly smooth transition to tight end as he led the team in catches (3) and yards (49).
""I had a lot of thoughts going into the game that I wanted to make an impression,"" Beckum said. ""I knew that I had something to prove.""
With the departure of Brandon Williams, the Badgers even had to rely on youth for their punt and kick returns, as wide receiver Jarvis Minton showed promise on the kickoff team with two returns for 43 yards.
Defensive back Ben Strickland—who, to this point, is most famous for recovering Casillas' blocked punt against the Gophers—made the most of his opportunity to return punts when he took the first and only one he fielded 33 yards inside the five, which set up UW's third touchdown of the game.
