The Badgers' talented duo of starting cornerbacks came into the 2007 season sky high. The two junior cornerbacks, Jack Ikegwuonu and Allen Langford, had excellent 2006 campaigns. They look to be the anchors in the Badgers' secondary that lost both free safety Roderick Rogers and strong safety Joe Stellmacher to graduation in 2006.
After dominating as an all-state split end and defensive back at Madison Memorial High School, Jack Ikegwuonu also found early success in his college football career at UW. After red-shirting the 2004 season, Ikegwuonu played in every game of the 2005 season, starting in three of those contests. He tied for the team lead in interceptions in 2005 with three and earned honorable mention freshman All-American honors.
In 2006, Ikegwuonu continued his stellar cornerback play, en route to first team All-Big Ten honors according to the coaches. He tied for third in the Big Ten in passes defended with 13 and was the team's fifth-leading tackler. One of Ikegwuonu's greatest plays as a Badger came in the Capital One Bowl win over No. 11 Arkansas when he chased down speedy Arkansas running back Darren McFadden from behind on a touchdown-saving tackle. The Badgers' defense held the Razorbacks from scoring, and Ikegwuonu's tackle proved to be the difference in Wisconsin's 17-14 win.
The 2007 season hasn't been as successful thus far for Ikegwuonu, who came into the season ranked as the nation's fifth best cornerback by The Sporting News. Ikegwuonu has been facing ongoing legal issues from 2006 and hasn't been able to stay on the field this season due to an array of injuries.
Obviously Jack has had some ups and downs this fall with injuries,"" said Wisconsin defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz, ""but when he is healthy, he can be as good as anybody in the country.""
The less heralded of the Badgers' starting cornerbacks is junior Allen Langford, but he has shown he is not second rate. Like Ikegwuonu, Langford red-shirted the 2004 season and played extensively in 2005 with nine starts. Langford earned All Big-Ten honorable mention honors in 2006, while intercepting a team-high three passes. His best game came in the Badgers' biggest game of the 2006 Big Ten regular season versus No. 6 Michigan, where he had four solo-tackles and intercepted two passes.
This year, Langford has continued to build on his impressive Badger career. He has already defended five passes in the 2007 season, including two in last week's game versus Penn State.
""Allen has been Mr. Consistent, we get excellent play out of him,"" Hankwitz said. ""He tackles [well] back there and plays smart.""
Badger fans have been able to watch the talented corners Ikegwuonu and Langford develop over the last couple years and hope their best football is yet to come.
""[Ikegwuonu and Langford] have developed, but the thing is ... you need to keep progressing,"" said Hankwitz. ""You never level off, you need to keep pushing and getting better all the time.""
Ikegwuonu and Langford lead a Badger defense that has struggled this season, especially in the last three games, in which they surrendered an average of 470 yards and 34 points. Although the Badgers' corners have not been playing particularly well this season, they cannot be blamed for all the passing yards the Badgers have permitted. Opposing offenses have found success passing from spread formations where they send three, four, or even five receivers downfield on one play. Under these circumstances, safeties and linebackers are required to handle a lot of the coverage duties and have given up several big plays already this season.
The besieged Badgers defense will look to Ikegwuonu and Langford for direction and leadership as they try to right the ship versus Northern Illinois this week. The defense needs excellent play from its cornerbacks so the linebackers and safeties can focus on stopping the powerful Northern Illinois running attack.
