The UW football team's decision on the opening coin flip was symbolic of the way it approached Saturday's 44-3 triumph over Northern Illinois at Camp Randall Stadium.
The Badgers won and, on any other day, would have differed the decision to the second half. However, UW head coach Bret Bielema, who wanted his team to make a statement from the get-go, elected to receive the opening kickoff.
We wanted to be the aggressors in this ball game,"" Bielema said of the decision. ""I think from the opening snap to when we finished out there today, we did that.""
Needless to say, the choice was a good one.
Senior quarterback Tyler Donovan found sophomore tight end Garrett Graham up the seam of the field for a 25-yard touchdown on the first drive to put the Badgers ahead just under five minutes into the game.
All in all, UW scored on four of its first five drives, capped by a 9-yard touchdown run by sophomore tailback Lance Smith to give the Badgers a 28-0 advantage just four and a half minutes into the second quarter.
""It felt pretty good having all our guys in alignment and assignment-ready, and just going out there having fun and playing football,"" sophomore tailback P.J. Hill said.
The offense compiled 331 yards rushing on the day, with Hill going for 184 yards and two scores, all in the first three quarters. The East Elmhurst, N. Y., native compiled 109 yards in the first quarter alone.
""We really challenged P.J., Lance, [freshman] Zach [Brown], as well as the fullbacks that this game was going to be about how they performed,"" Bielema said. ""I really like the way they went about it.""
The defense was just as impressive, holding the Huskies to just 99 total yards and forcing them into five consecutive three-and-outs to start the game.
Using a combination of blitz packages and schemes, the defense came out assertively and stifled Huskies leading rusher Justin Anderson, holding him to just 14 yards for the game. Anderson entered the contest at No. 9 in the nation in rushing.
Junior cornerback Allen Langford noted the unit's strong play.
""It builds our confidence, it lets us know what type of defense we can be,"" Langford said. ""We realize that we have a lot of great players and we're capable of doing a lot of big things. It's a matter of just executing every week.""
The defense also exhibited an ability to make plays, posting 10 tackles for a loss of yardage and two interceptions, both registered by sophomore safety Shane Carter.
Junior linebacker Jonathan Casillas said the emotion of the entire team made a huge difference in the playmaking ability in all phases of the game.
""All our guys brought that passion I don't think we've seen, especially in the last two games that we lost,"" Casillas said. ""We started off playing with a lot of passion and a lot of energy, and it carried through all four quarters.""
The Badgers' quick start in Saturday's win eliminated any hope for Northern Illinois in its upset bid and more importantly, gave the Badgers the confidence they need heading into next weekend's Homecoming matchup against Indiana.
""The last three times we played [Northern Illinois], the win margin was only by about six points in all three games,"" senior wide receiver Paul Hubbard said. ""They came in here ready to kick our butts and we just didn't let them have that.
