MADISON, Wis. -- To understand why Wisconsin's defense has quickly developed into one of the top units in college football this season, start with perhaps the Badgers' worst play from Saturday's game.
There was South Florida fullback Kennard Swanson streaking down the left sideline, headed for a touchdown thanks to a blown assignment from linebacker Vince Biegel. Swanson had leaked out of the backfield on a wheel route, and now he was seconds away from trimming the Bulls' deficit to a mere three points at the start of the fourth quarter.
Instead, Badgers safety Lubern Figaro tracked down Swanson from behind and popped the ball loose at the 10-yard line. Biegel, meanwhile, had run half the length of a football field to make amends for his mistake, and he pounced on the fumble. A 52-yard reception had gone for naught.
Wisconsin's offense proceeded to piece together an 18-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that lasted 9 minutes, 33 seconds. South Florida ran all of four plays in the fourth quarter and 13 in the entire second half.
"I've never been around that in my life," Badgers coach Gary Andersen said.
Wisconsin safety Michael Caputo cited the Figaro strip and Biegel recovery as a crucial example of this defense's intangible ability to compete with an edge. If you make a mistake, play with passion and speed, and something good may happen anyway.
"Our want-to to make big plays," Caputo said. "We've got a guy that catches a wheel downfield and is running down and we've got guys chasing him, causing fumbles. Those are things that you can't really coach. You can't really teach those things. That's the good thing about our defense, that we have that edge and that we have that will and want-to."
There are plenty of coachable aspects, too, which have helped the defense rank in the top 20 nationally in all four major defensive statistical categories: passing defense (18th, 174.5 yards per game), rushing defense (ninth, 86.3 yards per game), total defense (seventh, 260.8 yards per game) and scoring defense (11th, 14.5 points per game).
UW is one of only four schools to rank among the top 20 in those four categories, joining Baylor, Louisville and TCU. But No. 17 Wisconsin (3-1) will be tested on Saturday when it begins Big Ten play at Northwestern (2-2), which is coming off its most impressive performance of the season during a 29-6 victory against Penn State.
Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda has put together a faster, leaner front seven that is creating more pressure on quarterbacks than even a year ago, when the Badgers also ranked in the top 20 in all four major defensive categories. This year's team has 15 quarterback hurries through four games. A year ago, the Badgers tallied 31 quarterback hurries in 13 games. That increase of 2.4 to 3.8 comes as no accident, and players are not satisfied with the numbers just yet.
"Last game we could have affected the quarterback a little bit more as far as getting to him, getting in his face a little bit," said Badgers linebacker Derek Landisch, who tallied a sack and an interception against South Florida. "That's something we're always trying to improve in practice as far as the calls we make in getting to the quarterback, affecting the quarterback. It also helps out our coverage."
Landisch noted the defense has a long list of statistical goals to achieve each game. Among them are limiting teams to a certain number of yards per carry and yards per play. Wisconsin also strives to commit three turnovers per game.
The biggest statistic in Andersen's mind is what happens on the scoreboard.
"We expect to play great defense," Andersen said. "To be in the position that we're in, the bottom line is points -- 14 some odd points a game is what they're giving up, which is great to see.
"I would never say I'm overly surprised, but I'm happy with where they sit at this point. If they can sustain that and maintain that through 12 regular season games, that would be a special defense, so time will tell."
There were many questions surrounding Wisconsin's front seven entering the season, particularly because all seven players were becoming full-time starters for the first time. Landisch had appeared in 38 games, but he also had started only three games. Linebacker Marcus Trotter had 14 appearances and one start, linebacker Joe Schobert had one start and Biegel had two starts.
Defensive end Konrad Zagzebski had tallied four starts, while fellow starting end Chikwe Obasih had never played in a college game. And nose guard Arthur Goldberg, who has taken over as a starter for injured senior Warren Herring, also had never appeared in a college game.
"We're not a bunch of big-name guys," Landisch said. "We don't have all that (starting) experience. But a lot of us have played in a lot of football games. Just staying together, being on the same page, the communication, that's something we've got to improve from last game, looking on film. Some of the adjustments, as far as everyone being on the same page, that's something we're looking forward to improving."
Some outsiders may be surprised at the level of success this defense has experienced because of all those so-called new faces, but Caputo certainly isn't one of them.
"To be honest with you, they're not really new faces to me," Caputo said. "They're guys that have been grinding since the beginning in fall camp, since the beginning of summer. They're well into the system. They're not really new faces. They're just guys who I trust now."
That trust has been especially evident thus far in the red zone. Wisconsin is the only FBS team in the country to have not surrendered a single touchdown in that area. Opponents have tallied four field goals and thrown two interceptions in six red zone attempts.
Among FBS teams, only Stanford (three), TCU (four) and Baylor (five) have allowed fewer red zone trips.
"To stop them in the red zone is a really big thing," Caputo said. "If they get a field goal, that's fine, just as long as they don't score (a touchdown). We really take that to heart."
So far, so good for Wisconsin's retooled but equally successful defense.
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