The bye week is always a good opportunity to heal bumps and bruises. Junior strong safety Shelton Johnson, who missed UW's win over Nebraska with a calf injury, said he felt fully recovered this Saturday's game.
""I know it's only five games, but sometimes those five games and fall camp can wear on your body,"" Johnson said. ""It's definitely nice to get a break and recharge a little bit.""
Johnson won a battle for the starting job against sophomore Dez Southward, though Southward stepped in ably during Johnson's absence. It will be interesting to watch the number of snaps each sees going forward.
In addition to Johnson, players like senior guard Kevin Zietler, senior kicker Philip Welch and tight end Brian Wozniak—who all missed time this year—should also benefit from the week off. All three are expected to be available against Indiana.
The bye week also affords many players a chance to get their minds off football and do some things out of the ordinary routine. Junior center Peter Konz said he got some fishing in and—of course—had some success.
""I caught a bunch of crappies, bluegills and sunfish; it was great,"" Konz said. ""Then we rocked to the ‘70s and ‘80s. My iPod.""
Sophomore tight end Jacob Pedersen said he traveled back to his hometown of Ironwood, Mich. and got in some hunting time. He did not report the same success Konz did.
Due to a scheduling quirk—a result of implementing divison play—UW hosts Indiana for the second straight season. A year ago, Wisconsin hung an eye-popping 83 points on the Hoosiers.
Konz said he expected IU to put up a better fight this year.
""It puts a target on our back, especially coming back into Camp Randall,"" Konz said. ""They've played a lot of teams tough so far this year.""
Senior free safety Aaron Henry said he expected pride to be a part of the equation for the returning players, even though this is head coach Kevin Wilson's first year running the program.
""A team gets a first down or a couple first downs on us, we have to be reminded of it the next week,"" Henry said. ""They're going to use it as motivation.""
