[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]ORLANDO, Fla. — It was appropriate to watch as junior linebacker Mark Zalewski doused his retiring head coach with a Gatorade shower in the waning moments of UW's upset of No. 9 Auburn.

Long a staple of bowl victories, the drenching signified not only a win in the Capital One Bowl, but the end of an era in Wisconsin football, as head coach Barry Alvarez walked off the field for the last time.

"I've never done it before," Zalewski said. "[Dontez Sanders] looked over and I think we both had the same idea, and we got the one with the most ice in it."

But perhaps just as significant, in terms of the game at least, was that it was Zalewski, the unquestioned leader of this season's defense, who unloaded the large orange cooler on the Wisconsin coaching icon.

Heading into the matchup, there was little question that Auburn possessed one of the nation's most potent offenses, leading the Southeastern Conference by scoring better than 34 points per contest.

Junior Kenny Irons had stepped in admirably for the two-headed monster of Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown, leading the SEC in rushing en route to a unanimous first-team all-SEC selection. Even the Tigers' first-year starter at quarterback, Brandon Cox, was impressive, throwing for the second-most yards in the conference.

There was even less of a question as to the chance most people were giving the UW defense to stop the Auburn offense, which was just about zero. UW had struggled, especially during conference play, to stop opposing offenses, as was evident in losses to Northwestern and Penn State.

Yet there stood Zalewski and the rest of the defense after the game, not hanging their heads in disappointment as many expected, but, rather, enjoying the ecstasy of the upset victory. And it was not just any win — it was one that saw the UW defense hold Auburn to 10 points and only 236 total yards, both season lows.

"It's incredible. SEC, one of the best conferences in the country, for our defense to give up a lot of stuff during the year, this was a great finish for us," Zalewski said.

Wisconsin set the tone early, forcing a pair of turnovers in Auburn's opening two possessions.

Senior cornerback Levonne Rowan opened the game by intercepting Cox's first pass of the game to stall the Tigers' opening drive three plays in. On its next possession, Auburn again managed only three plays before Jason Chapman forced an Irons' fumble that was recovered by Nick Hayden to end the Tigers' second drive

"I think those first two turnovers really got the energy going on the defensive side of the ball and really got everyone excited to go out there and start making plays. It was just a great start," Zalewski said.

The Badgers held the powerful Irons to a mere 88 yards on the ground, forcing the young Cox to try to beat UW through the air with a glut of big, athletic receivers.

Head coach Tommy Tuberville's squad tried everything from its patented play-action pass to seldom-used slants and out routes to a trick double-reverse flea-flicker to crack the Wisconsin defense. Yet nothing seemed to work for the Tigers as the Wisconsin secondary stepped up to the challenge, holding Cox to 137 yards passing.

"I really think that today we played our best game, given the fact that that was the No. 1 offense in the SEC, they were ranked eighth in the country, there was a lot of hoopla surrounding them, no one really gave us a chance and I think this is really gratifying," freshman cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu said.

Not everything went well for the Badger defense, though, as Wisconsin lost left tackle Joe Thomas midway through the game with a torn ACL in his right knee. Thomas, who played on both sides of the ball for the bowl game, injured his knee while trying to tackle Auburn's Kenny Irons midway through the third quarter.

"It's an unfortunate thing that happened to Joe, but the one thing Joe Thomas is, as good as a football player as he is, he's twice as good a person," Bielema said. "It's unfortunate this happened, but everything in life happens for a reason."

Thomas, who was debating whether or not to enter the NFL Draft a year early, will now have surgery to repair the tear. The All-American hopes to be ready for the 2006 season.