MADISON, WIS. -- A day after Wisconsin's 34-7 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday evening, a thought popped into my head.
Do we all really understand how dominant Jim Leonhard's defense performed this weekend?
UW stifled any attempt of offense put forth by Eastern Michigan. Consider the following stats:
*Eastern Michigan gained 16 rushing yards on 18 attempts.
*It took a final garbage time drive late in the fourth quarter for the Eagles to sniff around the century mark in yards. They gained 23 -- just 23 -- in the first half.
*The MAC program only scrounged together 92 total yards on 38 plays. Its Big Ten foe allowed only 2.4 yards per snap.
*The only points on the scoreboard for Chris Creighton's program came from its defense, not offense, via a 98-yard pick six in the fourth quarter.
One could have expected Wisconsin's defense to lock down Eastern Michigan on Saturday, a week after playing very well for the most part but still committing some crucial miscues in a one-score loss to Penn State. Simply put, the Badgers put on a clinic on Saturday, and defensive end Matt Henningsen took "enormous pride" in holding an opponent under 100 yards.
"Our goal as a defense is to be the most physical defense in the country," Henningsen said. "And if we're physical, that'll result in them being unable to run the ball. If they can't run the ball, it's tough to throw the ball."
Eastern Michigan only converted two of 11 third-down opportunities, and with the ground game thoroughly contained, the quarterback duo of Preston Hutchinson and Ben Bryant completed a combined 10 of 20 throws for 76 yards and an interception on the day. Overall, Wisconsin as a team recorded just 34 tackles on the official stats sheets, but six of them went for loss.
Seven of Eastern Michigan's 10 drives ended in three-and-outs. Its combined totals for yardage in that seemingly lucky number of series? 24. One of the three possessions that didn't end after three snaps actually wrapped up in two with Donte Burton's first career interception on a second-down throw from Hutchinson.
Inside linebacker Jack Sanborn explained the disruption those short series can do.
"I think as a defense, you don't want an offense to get in rhythm," Sanborn said. "An offense wants to get in rhythm, and anytime that we're continuing to force those three-and-outs, forces an offense not to have the opportunity to really get in rhythm at all.
"That's what we love as a defense, and it all starts up front in stopping the run. Then that allows us all to be creative on third down and kind of get after it and see what we can do."
The secondary appeared to respond after an outing last week that saw them contain Penn State's passing attack for the most part, outside of a few glaring plays. Even without two first-team defensive backs, UW blanketed the Eastern Michigan's potential receiving threats.
Wisconsin once again played without inside linebacker Leo Chenal, as former walk-on Mike Maskalunas slid in and tied for the team lead in tackles on the evening (three). The defense also worked without starting cornerback Faion Hicks and safety Collin Wilder. Redshirt juniors Alexander Smith and John Torchio filled in, respectively, and there was not a drop off in play. When Wisconsin first went to its nickel package, redshirt sophomore Dean Engram worked in the slot, filling in for Hicks in that role as well.
Torchio and Travian Blaylock both received reps at safety with Wilder unavailable, and Henningsen complimented both after the game.
"It's so cool seeing those young guys -- I mean, a lot of them aren't even young guys anymore -- those guys that aren't necessarily as experienced get on to the field and make plays out there," Henningsen said. "We call 'Torch' 'The Jewelry Thief.' He takes the ball away. He's a ball hawk out there.
"Trey, it's awesome. He struggled a little bit with injuries over his time here, and he's an athlete, right? He's a good player, and it's great seeing him out there playing, too. So extremely proud of those guys and excited for them."
Redshirt senior safety Scott Nelson believed Torchio and Blaylock performed well in their roles on Saturday and knew the expectations set.
"They both know when one guy comes out, the level of play shouldn't go down," Nelson said. "The standard we have for our defense, for our secondary doesn't go down, so they did a great job. They didn't flinch at all. They're both ready for the moment, and they took advantage.
"They both made some plays today. As a defense, we don't expect any letdown whenever a starter is out, because there's a lot of great players who might not be starting on our defense, but they're very capable of making plays."
Nelson said in early August that he felt this defense "could be very special" this season, and that still remains on track. Last week had some slip ups against a Penn State offense rich in talent at wide receiver and challenging in scheme, but UW created pressure and mostly played well despite the aforementioned hiccups. That, and the unit only allowed 16 points.
Wisconsin heavily succeeded in halting Eastern Michigan's attack a week later, as many expected the program to do. Trying to dissect just how much can be taken from this game from the outside is admittedly nuanced. However, the defense passed the eye test (and the stats sheet) to show it can be a disruptive force heading into its non-conference matchup against No. 12 Notre Dame on Sept. 25 (11 a.m. CT, FOX).
For Sanborn, "the most important thing is that we got the first win of the year."
"That was the entire goal coming into today, and that's what we wanted. That's all we needed. To come out here with a win, a win like that -- all three phases playing really good football -- it's great. It's great for the team.
"Then we just have to continue to build off that going into this bye week and then going into Notre Dame, we got to take strides and just keep building off of it."
