As they had been in weeks prior, senior quarterback John Stocco and the Wisconsin offense were a central topic of discussion Monday at head football coach Bret Bielema's weekly press conference. The usual skepticism surrounding the unit's competence was absent, however, as Stocco had just been named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for leading the Badgers to a 52-17 thrashing at Indiana Saturday.
Before being pulled early in the third quarter, Stocco passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns against the Hoosiers, completing 88 percent of his passes and setting a school record with a 296.68 passing efficiency rating.
""That was the amazing part, just the consistency [with which] he was able to deliver the football, but also making the correct calls,"" Bielema said. ""It's never going to be found in any stats how he changes the play at the line of scrimmage ... [He] did a good job of managing the game as it unfolded.""
Stocco has now earned the title of Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week three times in his career, the previous two instances coming Nov. 28, 2005, and Nov. 6, 2004.
Bielema said Stocco's success Saturday was due in large part to his continued faith in his receivers, who had repeatedly dropped passes in past games. The veteran quarterback and inexperienced receivers finally clicked against the Hoosiers, following one big pass play up with another.
""[Stocco] isn't going to let one play adversely affect the next,"" Bielema said of the dropped passes. ""If he throws the ball to someone and maybe they don't come up with the play that he was looking for or the reaction that he was expecting to see, he doesn't just turn and go the other way. He continues to come back if he believes there's that ability in someone.""
""It takes a while for those other guys to honestly believe that that's really going to be the way he approaches it, but he does, and that's why he's able to continue to have success,"" Bielema continued.
Looking ahead to Saturday's game against Northwestern, the question may not be whether the offense can maintain its resurgence, but instead whether the defense can avoid the same type of letdown it had last year against the Wildcats. The Badgers traveled to Evanston last season ranked 14th in the country, but the defense was torched for 51 points en route to Wisconsin's first loss of the year.
""It was no secret to anybody in that room that we didn't play very well defensively,"" Bielema said. ""That same offensive concept is there, some of their same players are back, but last year is last year, and this year's defense I think in particular has really taken to the idea and philosophy of the coaches that are here now, and I expect them to be able to go out and execute.""
The Wisconsin defense has yielded just six touchdowns this season, one less than the seven it gave up in the Northwestern game alone last year.
Saturday's game against the Wildcats will feature the two youngest Division 1A head coaches in the country, as Bielema, 36, and Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, 31, will direct their teams from opposite sidelines. Fitzgerald took over the team in July after the sudden death of then-head coach Randy Walker.
""Those guys have their own set of things that they've had to deal with that I can't imagine as a head coach trying to embattle and go through,"" Bielema said. ""[Fitzgerald has] done a tremendous job just to be able to get them to the point where they are right now, and my guess is on Saturday we'll see their best performance of the year.""
In some off-the-field news, several Wisconsin players were faced with tragedy during the weekend, as UW-La Crosse student and basketball player Luke Homan went missing in downtown La Crosse. Senior Joe Thomas and juniors Ben Strickland and Steve Johnson went to high school with Homan and were excused from Sunday's practice to go help with the search in La Crosse.
