Bret Bielema finally had something to smile about. After enduring two weeks of complete and utter struggle, the Wisconsin defense took a step in the right direction in Saturday's 31-20 win over Purdue — maybe even five steps. That's how many turnovers the Badgers forced, a total that included three interceptions; this after picking off just one pass in the previous two games.

More importantly, after placing the burden on the offense while allowing 674 and 510 yards, respectively, to Northwestern and Minnesota in the last two weeks, the Wisconsin defense took the onus on itself. Two of the team's interceptions went for touchdowns, with free safety Roderick Roger's 84-yard score giving the Badgers their first lead of the second half and cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu ending any question of the game's outcome with a 62-yard score.

"We've been looking for a spark," Ikegwuonu said. "Coach has been talking about a spark on defense, a spark on offense, and we had quite a few of them today, and I think that's what we need to keep doing. It does wonders for our confidence. We know we can make big plays, we've just got to keep going out there and doing it."

Those sparks did help to mask Wisconsin's offensive deficiencies, while at the same time covering up the struggles of the defense. The five turnovers more than made up for the fact that the unit yielded 428 total yards, including 216 yards on the ground to a Purdue team that ranks eighth in the Big Ten in rushing offense.

However, Bielema's group showed a marked improvement after halftime, forcing four of the unit's turnovers and slowing down Purdue tailback Jerrod Void (who finished the game with 54 yards, 43 of which came in the first half) after making an adjustment on the defensive front.

"If we got in at half, we knew there were some things we could change defensively as far as what we were doing up front, some different reads for the linebackers, and just needed their eyes and their ears," Bielema said. "We talked extensively as a staff and then had really just about four and half, five minutes with them and they took it all in and adjusted well and really responded I think in the second half."

And, in contrast to the past several weeks, the defense responded in the second half. Ikegwuonu intercepted Boilermaker quarterback Curtis Painter's pass on the third play from scrimmage of the half. Then, on Purdue's third possession after the break, Rogers jumped in front of Dorian Bryant and zigzagged his way down the field to stake Wisconsin a 17-13 lead.

With Painter and the Boilermakers marching early in the fourth, Mike Newkirk forced yet another Purdue turnover, stripping running back Kory Sheets and recovering the fumble. Two possessions later Ikegwuonu sealed the win with his first career touchdown.

"Our second goal this week was create turnovers," Bielema said. "The last time that really happened was the Michigan game, which in my mind was the last time we played good defense. So they go hand in hand. One hand feeds the other. If you get a turnover, you're off the field, but also you get a little mojo to the offense, and that didn't always happen today, but at least the feeling was there defensively."

Now, the Badgers will look to keep that mojo going over the season's final four games.

"We don't want to just have one weekend and then fall back into the rut or anything like that," Newkirk said. "We've got to enjoy the win today, enjoy the play that we had, but then we've got to get back in and start going back to work starting on Tuesday."