Put it on tape.
That's the challenge Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema put on his defense coming into Saturday's match up with Oregon State after the unit lacked aggressiveness in the season opener.
""What you put on film is who you are,"" Bielema said. ""We gave up some free yardage last week.""
The Beavers were given no such gifts against No. 8 UW (0-0 Big Ten, 2-0 overall), as the Badger defense allowed a miniscule 23 yards rushing, pitched the first shutout since Oct. 31, 2009, and paved the way to a 35-0 victory in front of 80,337 at Camp Randall Stadium.
The Wisconsin defensive backs set the tone right from the start, recording six pass break-ups in the first quarter alone. Senior cornerback Devin Smith nearly intercepted a pass and had two pass breakups on the first drive for Oregon State. Smith left the game later in the quarter with a foot injury and appeared on the sideline later in a cast and using crutches, though Bielema said X-rays were negative.
The team finished with 10 pass breakups total.
""If we can start turning some of those PBUs into interceptions, that'll make this defense that much better,"" senior free safety Aaron Henry said.
While the defense got off to a fast start, the Wisconsin running game took an unusually long time to get up to speed. The Badgers finished the first quarter with three rushing yards on 10 attempts.
""Their safeties were filling aggressively and they weren't going to let us run the football,"" Bielema said. ""We were patient and didn't panic and I thought it really opened up our play-action passing game.""
Senior quarterback Russell Wilson picked up where he left off last week against UNLV, throwing three touchdowns—including two to sophomore tight end Jacob Pedersen—and made a wide variety of throws.
His second touchdown came on a beautifully thrown fade route to senior wide receiver Nick Toon, who was working against man coverage, in the back of the end zone. Toon finished with a career high seven catches, good for 69 yards. He and Wilson already show signs of excellent chemistry.
""With the look they gave us, that's where [Wilson's] supposed to go and yeah, they probably had that nod to each other before the play even happened,"" Bielema said.
Wilson finished the day 17-21, with 189 yards to go along with the three scores.
The running game eventually did pick up, as junior Montee Ball finished with 118 yards on 18 carries and found the end zone twice.
While the offense at times lacked the explosiveness that has become the set standard in Madison, it played largely mistake-free football. One long run by Wilson was called back by a block-in-the-back penalty, but UW did not turn the ball over and has not done so at Camp Randall since their Oct. 16 win against Ohio State last year.
""It's emphasis,"" Bielema said. ""I harp all the time about turnovers and penalties. To me, it starts there.""
The offense put on a show last week against UNLV and continued to show their diversity of weapons Saturday, but this game was about the defense making a statement.
""[Defensive Coordinator Chris] Ash always talks about swagger,"" Henry said. ""He wants us to go out there and have a swagger and today we went out and put it on tape. If you go out there and put it on tape, that's all your opponents will see.""
