Less is more

Badgers ease up on practice, aim to improve D

By most standards, Wisconsin's defense last season was mediocre. By the standards that the Badgers set when they won three Big Ten titles in the 1990s, including consecutive championships in 1998-99, the defense stunk. In each of those two Rose Bowl campaigns, the Wisconsin D finished in the top five nationally in at least two different statistical categories. By last season, the Badgers stopped as many people as a vegan at a bratwurst festival.

Spread offenses killed Wisconsin. Indiana scored 63 points. Minnesota put up 42. In four of the last seven games of the year, Wisconsin allowed at least 42 points. The Badgers finished no better than 58th in any defensive statistical category. "Against Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State, we played great defense," Badgers coach Barry Alvarez said. "We put it all on the front line [and with All-America lineman Wendell Bryant, a first-round choice of the Arizona Cardinals last April, why not?]. When the other team put the onus on our secondary, we ran into trouble."

After last year's 5-7 record, Alvarez fired his secondary coach for the last two seasons, Todd Bradford, and replaced him with Ron Cooper, of late the head coach at Alabama A&M. In the late 1980s when Alvarez coordinated the defense on Lou Holtz's best Notre Dame teams, Cooper coached the secondary.

Alvarez won't say what changes the defense has made for this season, largely in order not to tip off Fresno State, which will open the season in Madison on Aug. 23 in the John Thompson Foundation Kickoff Classic. But he likes the fact that two of his defensive ends, Darius Jones and Jake Sprague, saw some playing time before being redshirted last season with injuries.

The visit by the Bulldogs is the first game of a long schedule for Wisconsin. "Thirteen damn games," Alvarez said. "I've put a lot of thought into it. I've really tried to come up with different ideas to keep the players fresh."

In the first 18 days of preseason practice, which concluded Friday, the Badgers worked out at Bishop O'Connor Catholic Center in Middleton, Wis., 15 minutes from campus. In all that time, Alvarez didn't hold two-a-days on more than two consecutive days. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, with only one practice on the schedule, Alvarez extended wakeup time from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. On one Saturday, he released the players to go home to their apartments for the night.

Plenty of schools have eased up in preseason practices this month, not because of the elongated schedule but because of the deaths last season of a handful of pro and college players from heatstroke. Tennessee and Florida State, to name two schools, are taking breaks more frequently, especially during two-a-days. For a coach whose team has a reputation for physical play, cutting back on contact work was a radical shift (think Bill Walsh switching to the triple option).

Quickly, however, Alvarez's plan produced positive results. After seven days of practice in past years, players seeking treatment had made upward of 200 trips to see trainers. This season, the trainers had received only 60 visits. Asked if he had gone soft, Alvarez burst into laughter and said, "Probably." Then he added, "I think I'm getting smart."

Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers college football for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.

 

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