Since 2004, the Wisconsin football team (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall) has won more games, 36, than any other Big Ten team, and only two national powerhouses, USC and Texas, can say they have more. The fact that the Badgers hold the nation's longest winning streak, 14 games, warrants mentioning UW with the nation's best.
Winning streaks obviously come from a total team effort, but perhaps the unsung heroes from these wins come from the big men up front on the offensive and defensive lines that open up lanes for running backs or come off the end and make crucial sacks.
This isn't skating, we don't get any style points for doing things pretty,"" head coach Bret Bielema said. ""We're not a sexy school - we just go out and play Wisconsin football, fortunately for us it's converted itself into a lot of wins.""
Coming off perhaps the greatest offensive performance of the season, in which UW moved up and down the field amassing 461 total yards, the offensive line made the entire offense mesh.
""It's Wisconsin. Wisconsin O-line, you know there's a lot of history there and big guys up front is where it starts, that's really where our offense gels,"" senior quarterback Tyler Donovan said. ""We've had really good production from the five guys up front opening lanes for P.J. and giving us time to look our eyes downfield.""
Coming into last Saturday's game, Michigan State had held its opponents to 96 yards rushing per game. UW sophomore running back P.J. Hill had 155 by himself, and the Badgers as a team tallied 214 yards on the ground. That type of production, similar to the way UW's offense played last season, does not happen by accident.
""I'm happy with the way we are playing right now,"" senior center Marcus Coleman said. ""As far as last year, I think that the four guys that are coming back are playing better than we were last year. I think that says a lot.""
The sixth most productive running back in the country resides in the backfield for the cardinal and white, in Hill. That type of production, attributed strongly to the holes the line creates, will remain essential, especially as the Badgers go on the road to some hostile environments.
""Where you get better [is] in practice, and you just come here every week with the right attitude to get better and work on one thing to get better each day, and that's really helped us,"" Coleman said.
