[media-credit name=’Ben Smidt’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]A lot of people were taken aback by Illinois’ performance last weekend. Behind the superb play of super-super-senior Jon Beutjer, the Illini gave the Boilermakers of Purdue a scare, pulling within eight points of Joe Tiller’s heavily favored squad, with less than five minutes on the game clock.

Beutjer’s play — inconsistent throughout his elongated collegiate career — has at times inspired commendation and at others inspired criticism. Against Purdue he was a rock. Beutjer threw for over 200 yards and put the ball in the end zone three times. He limited his mistakes, throwing zero picks to give Illinois every opportunity to pick up a huge confidence — building victory.

One person who wasn’t surprised by Beutjer’s play was Wisconsin cornerback Brett Bell. Bell was a sophomore at Wheaton-Warrenville high school in Iowa just two years behind Beutjer.

“He was unbelievable,” Bell said of his former teammate. “He threw for 60 touchdown passes his senior year of high school. He’s tall; he’s filled-out; he’s got an extremely strong arm; he’s smart; and he knows where to throw the football.”

Bell continued to say that Beutjer’s impressive talent is something that he and the Badger secondary will have to prepare for and expect.

“I know how he is,” he said. “I know how much of a leader he is. I know how well he plays the game and how smart he is — how he makes his reads and that his arm is extremely strong. It’s something we’re going to have to prepare for, especially with the deep passing game.”

After holding opponents to just 4.8 points per game in the first four weeks of the 2004 season, the UW defense faces it’s first real challenge against an Illini offense that has a star not only in Beutjer, but also in sophomore tailback E.B. Halsey.

Halsey was named a preseason All-American by Street and Smith’s and was picked as a preseason second team all-Big Ten selection by The Sporting News and Lindy’s. He racked up 828 yards of total offense and six touchdowns for Illinois in just nine games in 2003.

Thus far in 2004, Halsey has collected 407 yards of total offense and five touchdowns, while averaging nearly five yards per carry. Sophomore Pierre Thomas isn’t far behind Halsey, having already amassed 331 yards on the year. The two rank seventh and eighth (respectively) in the Big Ten in rushing yards.

“Just the fact that their passing game complements their running game and that their running game complements their passing game,” Bell said, explaining why the Illinois offense has been effective. “They have great running backs and they have great receivers and they have a real strong offensive line and a great quarterback.”

Wisconsin’s first four opponents this season have averaged 19.9 points per game in games that they haven’t played UW and just 4.8 in games that they have — giving UW an average of about 15 points taken off a team’s average per game. The Illini has averaged 13 points more than the Badgers per game, setting up what could be an extremely close contest.

One place the Badgers will certainly be looking to come into their own is on offense. With 19.2 points per game, the Badgers rank dead last in the Big Ten in scoring.

Illinois has allowed 440 yards per game this season and given up 38 points and 515 yards to Kyle Orton and the Boilermakers a week ago. Converted wide receiver Kelvin Hayden actually leads the Illini in tackles in 2004 — an impressive feat for any cornerback, but also a bad sign for any defense.

After scoring just over 40 points in the past three games combined, Wisconsin gets star tailback Anthony Davis back against Illinois.

“Obviously Anthony has shown a history of very high productivity,” UW offensive coordinator Brian White said. “We certainly expect that this weekend — big plays and long runs.

The return of “AD” could impact more than just UW’s running game. John Stocco and the Badger air attack have struggled mightily and could use his play to release some of the pressure currently being felt.

“I don’t know how much [Davis] opens up the passing game,” White said. “But it just creates more explosives on the field, and he’s shown historically that every fourth, fifth, sixth run is going to be 15-plus (yards). That’s a good thing for us because we’ve had difficulties getting chunks.”

After going 1-11 in 2003, the Illini are out to prove this season that they can play with, and even beat, the big boys again. They almost did just that against Purdue last week.

“It’s frustrating; but at the same time it’s encouraging,” Illinois’s Matt Sinclair said of the defeat. “When we go back and look at the film, it’s not like they were a better team than us.”

If Wisconsin doesn’t come out strong, Illinois may be more than encouraged after Saturday.