What a difference a week can make. After enduring its fair share of criticism following a lackluster performance in last Saturday's season opener against Bowling Green, the Wisconsin defense rebounded to ground the Temple Owls' offensive attack in UW's 65-0 blowout victory.

Just a week after Bowling Green's spread offense tore through Wisconsin for 42 points and 531 total yards, the Badger defense held the Owls to just 45 total yards for the game. The performance capped a roller coaster week for a UW secondary that allowed 458 yards in the air last week against Bowling Green quarterback Omar Jacobs.

"We were on some of our secondary guys pretty hard this week and I thought they responded," head coach Barry Alvarez said. "I thought they anticipated well. Obviously this team isn't going to throw the ball as well as what we saw a week ago, but yet they were still scary when you watched them on film."

Added junior strong safety Joe Stellmacher, "It was a long week of practice. Coaches were on us everyday. The spotlight was certainly on us in the defensive backfield, but we took the challenge. I thought we competed well today and held them down."

Last week's showing prompted the UW coaching staff to make a pair of changes, with redshirt freshman Allen Langford stepping in for Levonne Rowan at left cornerback and Stellmacher taking Johnny White's starting spot. Both Langford and Stellmacher looked solid in their first starts of the season.

"I know Langford, I didn't see any balls going over his head," defensive coordinator Bret Bielema said. "I think he competed and he was in there a long time. Joe has good tempo out there. He's in the game on and off the field."

The Badger defense took control from the start of the game. After gaining 13 yards on five plays on its first possession of the contest, Temple failed to total another yard on its remaining 22 snaps of the first half.

Bielema's defense held Owls' starting quarterback Mike McGann to just three completions on 16 attempts in the opening half and repeatedly pressured the Temple signal caller. Sophomore defensive end Kurt Ware led the way for the young defensive line, tallying a pair of quarterback hurries to go along with a sack in the opening stanza. Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Gino Cruse also recorded a sack, the first of his UW career.

"The front four played so good," linebacker Dontez Sanders said. "They got a lot of push today, they got a bunch of sacks, balls out and everything. I think they played real good today."

Wisconsin effectively rotated a total of eight players through the defensive line prior to mop-up duty, with four different linemen recording quarterback hurries to go along with the group's four sacks and five tackles for loss.

"I think Jamal Cooper's got a chance to be a special player," Bielema said. "Kurt Ware does a nice job in there. (Mike) Newkirk, his name just keeps popping up, and he's a strainer, and he just really works hard. [Jason Chapman is] good in there, Nick Hayden's good, so [defensive line coach John Palermo] rolls guys through there and I think it's really working out well so far."

Wisconsin's run defense was equally as solid, limiting the Owls to a paltry total of minus-19 rushing yards in the first 30 minutes.

Temple's offensive fortunes did not improve after the break either. Ware forced McGann to fumble on the Owls' second play of the half with his second sack of the game. On the next snap the senior quarterback had his pass intercepted by UW free safety Roderick Rogers, before giving way to backup Shane Kelly.

"What I liked, in the second half, there were some guys out there that don't see much time," Bielema said. "We were on them about don't be sloppy, don't let the game get away from you. I liked the way they responded, they were competing right there until the end."

McGann returned later in the game, but neither he nor Kelly found any success. For the game, the two combined to complete just six passes on 26 attempts against the revamped secondary.

"I saw a big improvement," Stellmacher said. "I thought a lot of guys weren't playing tentative this week. It was a lot more guys were just playing and reacting this week. You didn't see the wide eyes that you saw last week. So that was very encouraging. And I thought we improved 100 percent."