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Last season, injuries plagued the UW football team, injuries that the Badgers were unable to overcome. This spring, the injury plane has once again landed in Madison, except this time, the Badger coaching staff has decided to take a glass-half-full approach to the unfortunate situation.

“The only positive I can see with the injuries right now is we’re developing depth,” linebackers coach Randall McCray said. “Backups are becoming players right now where they’re being counted on at a position that they didn’t think they’d be in four months ago.”

The Badger secondary may currently suffer the most after cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season and both corners Aaron Henry and Allen Langford tore their ACLs at the end of last season.

“We wish (Jack) would have stayed another year,” defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks said. “It probably would have helped him out, but it gives us an opportunity to play some young guys that are going to play for us eventually anyway.”

One of those young guys has been Mario Goins, a redshirt freshman from Copperas Cove, Texas.

“Mario Goins is a guy that’s playing well right now,” defensive coordinator Dave Doeren said. “He’s been the guy that’s been the most consistent player, and he’s been pressed into the starting lineup.”

Sophomore Jay Valai has also had an impressive spring thus far, as he is giving junior Aubrey Pleasant — a 13-game starter from last season — all that he can handle at the strong safety position.

“Aubrey Pleasant had kind of an up-and-down season last season,” Cooks said. “With that being said, we were going to give someone else an opportunity, which is where Jay Valai came in to play. We’re very pleased with where his improvement is, but we’re also pleased with the way Aubrey Pleasant’s been working; he’s not just going to turn that position over.”

Head coach Bret Bielema is enjoying the competition at the safety spot as well.

“I think (Jay) and Aubrey both, they’ve improved quite a bit,” Bielema said Saturday. “I think Aubrey from a year ago to where he is right now and Jay with the momentum of the way he played in the bowl game; it’s a classic example [of good competition]. Jay at one point during the fall was a guy that came into my office and was thinking about if he needed to be here and we made some things happen for him that were positive, and now he’s in a position to potentially be a starter on a defensive unit as a sophomore.”

Preparing for the spread

Last season, the Badger defense struggled against Juice Williams and Illinois’ spread, triple-option offense. And with Michigan’s hiring of new head coach Rich Rodriguez, the Wolverines will likely run a style of offense similar to the one Rodriguez ran at West Virginia. This season, Wisconsin refuses to be caught off-guard by the spread, as practicing against it is now part of the Badger defense’s regular routine.

“We’re practicing (defending the spread) and that’s something we’ve never done here before,” Doeren said. “As coaches, we know to play it, but it’s the players who’ve got to know how to play it. They’ve got to be educated on that offense. You can’t just get in there four days before and teach it to them; they need to have longevity to it, and that’s what we’re doing.”

The key to defending the spread is “being in the right spot, making one-on-one tackles, that’s the key to most of it,” McCray added. “In our game (against Illinois) last year you saw a lot of missed one-on-one tackles, you saw a lot of guys trying to do other guys’ positions. You have to be sound and do your job and when you get in position to make a tackle, you have to make the tackle.”

Looking ahead

After a disappointing year on the defensive side of the ball, the 2008 Badgers will try to look more like the 2006 unit.

“Last season, the first (seven) games we were pretty doggone bad,” McCray said. “After the Penn State game, I think we really solidified ourselves and started putting ourselves in the right positions. We really tried making a statement by being sound and playing with great technique. So I think the last third of the season we really, really started playing a lot better and put ourselves in a position to propel us into this season.”

Doeren is also confident about the upcoming campaign.

“We tell our guys, ‘It’s not where you’re at, it’s where you’re going,'” Doeren said. “There’s going to be a huge positive here in about a year’s time. All these practices are going to add up. Last year with the injuries we had, I hope that never happens again. But if it does, these guys are getting reps. They’re going to be more confident, have a better understanding of what they’re doing, and it’s going to help us down the road big time.”