B1G Rewind: Wisconsin D keeps rolling

Non-conference opponents travel to Camp Randall Stadium hoping for a taste of the world's best cheddar curds and leave the venerable old venue smelling like Limburger cheese.

The Badgers (3-1) have yet to allow touchdown over its last 12 quarters, a span of 188 minutes, 2 seconds. Wisconsin smacked Hawaii 28-0, one week after dispatching Troy 28-3. Counting its 58-0 dismantling of Miami (Ohio), Wisconsin has sliced its three non-conference foes 114-3.

'It means we've been good the last couple games,” Wisconsin Coach Paul Chryst said. 'That's what I love about sports is that you have to go do it again. I think that we've got some good players on that defense and some great leaders, and we've still got room for growth. And they know that, and that's what I like about the group.”

In its last three games, Wisconsin has held opponents to a combined 93 rushing yards (Miami minus-3, Troy 81, Hawaii 15). Wisconsin's defense has posted even more impressive numbers. The last time Wisconsin held an opponent to three points or less in a three-game span was in 1937 when the Badgers shut out South Dakota State, Marquette and Chicago to open the season.

'It just shows how hard that we've worked and how much we love to play the game and run around out there,” Wisconsin safety Michael Caputo said. 'But you know, like I said to the guys before, 24 hour rule - just got to come back and we've got to focus on Iowa and just keep doing the same thing every week in preparation.”

Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is responsible for much of Wisconsin's defensive prowess. In Aranda's 17 home games with the Badgers, the defense has given up just 10.4 points a game. In his last nine non-conference home games, Aranda's defense has allowed just 5.6 points a game with four shutouts.

'You appreciate the efforts, and I think the defensive staff has done a great job of preparing the guys, the guys take that preparation to heart and we've been good,” Chryst said. 'Each week, you've got to go do it again.”

Wisconsin's defense faces a major test in its Big Ten opener against Iowa. The Hawkeyes (4-0) scored 62 points Saturday against North Texas and rank second in the Big Ten scoring offense (37.8 points per game).

SCARES APLENTY

West Division contenders Northwestern, Minnesota and Nebraska each experienced varying degrees of hysteria against non-Power 5 opponents. Ball State nagged Northwestern like a toothache before the Wildcats clinched a 24-19 victory. Nebraska rolled to a 22-point halftime advantage, then held on 36-28 against Southern Miss. Minnesota shook off a ton of injuries and scored a late touchdown to edge Ohio 27-24.

The Gophers (3-1) survived a second-straight scare against a MAC squad but needed late-game heroics to get it done. Ohio led 24-20 with 2:26 left when Minnesota put together an 11-play, 78-yard drive that culminated in a 3-yard touchdown by true freshman Shannon Brooks with 30 seconds left.

On the Gophers' final drive, quarterback Mitch Leidner completed 4 of 6 passes for 42 yards. He passed for a career-best 264 yards.

'(Leidner) was very upbeat,” Minnesota running back Rodney Smith said. 'He stayed positive. We never held our heads down. We practiced on Sunday, and we practiced with tempo. We preached that we be productive this week as an offense. We were productive for the most part. We went out there and we executed, and I believe it showed on the field today.”

Nebraska (2-2) turned on the cruise control after taking a 29-7 lead into the fourth quarter against Southern Miss and it just about cost them. The Golden Eagles scored two touchdowns in 1 minute, 8 seconds to pull within eight. The Cornhuskers seemingly took control after a Tommy Armstrong 16-yard touchdown run, but Southern Miss rallied for another score. Southern Miss pushed the ball to the Nebraska 40 but quarterback Nick Mullens was sacked by Huskers defensive end Freedom Akinmoladun on the game's final play.

Nebraska gave up 245 passing yards in the fourth quarter alone and finished with 12 penalties for 98 yards. The Cornhuskers had trouble closing out drives on offense with five field goals on seven attempts.

'Well, I guess it's really true; it's never easy,” Nebraska Coach Mike Riley said. 'I think everyone gets an overall picture of what that game was. We played pretty well early, but we didn't capitalize in the red zone with touchdowns. What might have been different point-wise even with scoring the number of times we did, the point differential wasn't very big and those things can't ... it seems like those things are destined to come back and haunt you.”

Northwestern (4-0) entered its game against Ball State ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense and third-down defense. The Wildcats had allowed only one touchdown in their three previous games, but allowed two on Saturday. The Wildcats still were strong on third down, giving up just five of 16 conversions. Before the game, Northwestern had allowed just six of 43.

When the game hung in the balance, Northwestern's overlooked offense came up with the game's most important non-scoring drive. The Wildcats took more than four minutes off the clock and left Ball State with just 11 seconds left at its 9. The Cardinals had time for one play but failed to get past its 20.

Northwestern trailed 10-7 at halftime, which reaffirmed some concerns for Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald.

'A lot of respect for Coach Lembo and his program,” Fitzgerald said. 'I knew this game would be harder than maybe people outside of our building thought, especially after what we've had to go through in the first three weeks of the season, playing the competition that we did. But I thought our guys responded in the second half and found a way to win.

'When I brought the group up at halftime, we didn't have to make a heck of a lot of adjustments, we just had to go out and play. And that's really what we talked about in our position groups. We talked about what we had to do and how we were going to go out and do it. I thought we came out with a mindset that we were going to find a way to win and that's what we did.”

TOP CHARTS

Ohio State (4-0) remained top-ranked in the USA Today/Coaches poll, while Michigan State (4-0) inched up to second. Northwestern bumped up to 17th and Wisconsin now is 18th. Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois all received votes.

THUMBS UPS

Wisconsin hasn't allowed a touchdown in its last three games. ... Michigan's defense gave up only 105 total yards after BYU had averaged 432.3 in its three previous games. ... Ohio State gained 511 yards and was 8-of-13 on third down. ... Michigan State has scored 30 or more points in 12 consecutive games. ... Rutgers rushed for 312 yards on 58 carries. ... Illinois allowed Middle Tennessee State to rush for 38 yards on 37 carries. ... Nebraska's defense smothered Southern Miss, giving up 11 rushing yards. ... Iowa has won all of its non-conference games for only the fourth time under Coach Kirk Ferentz. ... Northwestern rolled up 546 total yards, including more than 250 on both the ground and air.

THUMBS DOWNS

West Virginia's offense scorched Maryland's defense for 601 yards. ... Penn State rushed for 72 yards on 34 carries. ... Indiana had 11 penalties for 119 yards. ... Purdue gave up 539 yards and 39 first downs. ... Minnesota fumbled six times but lost only one.

WEEKEND STARS

Ohio State LB Raekwon McMillan recorded 16 tackles, including one sack. ... Michigan State DE Shilique Calhoun notched 2.5 sacks and blocked a field goal. ... Illinois free safety Clayton Fejedelem recorded 13 tackles (one for loss), broke up three passes and recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown. ... Iowa RB Jordan Canzeri rushed for 115 yards and four TDs. ... Nebraska QB Tommie Armstrong Jr. passed for 368 yards, rushed for 63 and combined for 3 TDs. ... Wisconsin RB Taiwan Deal ran for 147 yards and 2 TDs.

NOTEWORTHY

Michigan QB Jake Rudock passed for 194 yards and combined for 3 TDs. ... Maryland RB Brandon Ross rushed for 130 yards on 15 carries. ... Penn State QB Christian Hackenberg threw for 296 yards and 3 TDs. ... Rutgers RB Josh Hicks ran for 113 yards and 2 TDs. ... Indiana TB Jordan Howard rushed for 168 yards and a TD. ... Purdue QB David Blough passed for 340 yards and 2 TDs in his first career start. ... Minnesota RB Shannon Brooks had 147 combined yards and 2 TDs. ... Northwestern RB Justin Jackson rushed 33 times for 184 yards, both career highs.

POWER RANKINGS

1. Ohio State (1) 4-0 0-0

Hardly perfect but positive step

2. Michigan State (2) 4-0 0-0

Not overly impressive but still won by 20 points

3A. Northwestern (3) 4-0 0-0

Held on against a motivated opponent

3B. Iowa (4) 4-0 0-0

Offense playing at high level with room to grow

3C. Wisconsin (5) 3-1 0-0

3 straight games without allowing a TD

3D. Michigan (7) 3-1 0-0

Turning into the Wolverines of yore

7. Minnesota (6) 3-1 0-0

Struggling to put it all together

8. Nebraska (8) 2-2 0-0

So goes Tommy Armstrong, so go the Huskers

9. Penn State (9) 3-1 1-0

Has shown growth since horrible season opener

10. Indiana (10) 4-0 0-0

Won on the road vs. another Power 5 squad

11. Illinois (11) 3-1 0-0

Halfway to another bowl

12. Rutgers (14) 2-2 0-1

Took care of business vs. bad Kansas team

13. Maryland (12) 2-2 0-0

Next 7 opponents have a 25-3 record

14. Purdue (13) 1-3 0-0

Ambitious non-conference schedule backfired

STANDINGS

WEST DIVISION

Iowa 4-0 0-0

Northwestern 4-0 0-0

Illinois 3-1 0-0

Minnesota 3-1 0-0

Wisconsin 3-1 0-0

Nebraska 2-2 0-0

Purdue 1-3 0-0

EAST DIVISION

Penn State 3-1 1-0

Indiana 4-0 0-0

Michigan State 4-0 0-0

Ohio State 4-0 0-0

Michigan 3-1 0-0

Maryland 2-2 0-0

Rutgers 2-2 0-1

WEEKEND RESULTS

Iowa 62, North Texas 16

Nebraska 36, Southern Miss 28

Bowling Green 35, Purdue 28

Michigan 31, BYU 0

Michigan State 30, Central Michigan 10

Rutgers 27, Kansas 14

Indiana 31, Wake Forest 24

West Virginia 45, Maryland 6

Minnesota 27, Ohio 24

Ohio State 38, Western Michigan 12

Penn State 37, San Diego State 21

Illinois 27, Middle Tennessee State 25

Northwestern 24, Ball State 19

Wisconsin 28, Hawaii 0

NEXT SATURDAY

Iowa at Wisconsin, 11 a.m. (ESPN)

Purdue at Michigan State, 11 a.m. (ESPN2)

Army at Penn State, 11 a.m. (ESPNU)

Minnesota at Northwestern, 11 a.m. (BTN)

Ohio State at Indiana, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)

Nebraska at Illinois, 2:30 p.m. (BTN)

Michigan at Maryland, 6 p.m. (BTN)

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com