While much of the national spotlight has been centered on the Wisconsin football team’s (2-1 overall) struggling offense, the squad’s defense has been the team’s stabilizing force so far this season.
The unit will need to continue playing at a high level if the Badgers want to come away with a win against the University of Texas El-Paso (1-2 overall) this Saturday.
Averaging 15 points against per game, the UW defense, long thought to be the weakness of the team, has kept the Badgers in games that could have easily gone the other way.
“Our mantra right now is ‘do your job,’” defensive coordinator Chris Ash said. “As long as you do your job as an individual every play, then we’re going to be pretty good.”
Injuries to two of the team’s top five cornerbacks, redshirt sophomore Peniel Jean and redshirt senior Marcus Cromartie, could have unwound the Wisconsin secondary, but Ash says his team has prepared for this type of situation and shouldn’t miss a beat.
“Last spring and through training camp we’ve just preached ‘next man in,’” Ash said. “We prepared everybody like they were going to be a starter because at some point we knew injuries were going to happen.”
Despite the injuries, the Badgers had arguably their best performance from the secondary last weekend. While it didn’t force any turnovers, the unit came through to help earn the win.
One player who has been called on to step up is redshirt sophomore safety Michael Trotter, who has taken over the starting role of injured redshirt senior Shelton Johnson. A Racine, Wis., native, Trotter earned his first career start last week against Utah State, and he is already looking to shift the national perception of Wisconsin.
“When you think about Wisconsin, you think about that run game, not the defense at all, and I really think we’re changing people’s perspective on us,” Trotter said. “Hopefully we can show college football that this weekend we’re going to be better than we have been. We’re definitely looking to be a defensive school.”
The Badgers are facing a UTEP team this weekend that has kept things close against major conference opponents such as No. 5 Oklahoma and Ole Miss.
The Miners’ offense hasn’t gotten in the habit of giving up any freebees to defenses this year—senior quarterback Nick Lamaison has yet to throw an interception and the team has not lost a fumble.
“They’ve got some really good concepts and schemes that put some stress on your coverages,” Ash said. “They’ve got good receivers too, [sophomore Jordan Leslie] and [senior Michael Edwards] are both legit guys, they’re deep ball threats and they throw it downfield to them.”
In many ways the Miners’ offense presents a challenge to Wisconsin similar to that of Utah State—an offense that won’t blow you away with speed, but has several good, veteran athletes who can get the job done. Both teams run a similar system, which could work to the Badgers’ advantage this weekend.
“They’re good at what they do, they’re very well coached and we just have to focus on our cues and responsibilities,” redshirt senior linebacker Mike Taylor said. “They’re going to present a challenge to us, we’ve just got to lock in.”
Wisconsin takes the field against the Miners on Saturday at Camp Randall at 11 a.m.
