Wisconsin is not accustomed to having a tough defense bail out a struggling offense time and again.

Say it ain’t so, but through three games in the 2012 season, the defense’s play has been the key factor in keeping the Badgers (2-1) within striking distance of a win.

As the offense sputtered and struggled to find the end zone against Utah State (2-1) at home Saturday night, the defense made one big stop after another – which eventually led to a game-changing 82-yard punt return by sophomore Kenzel Doe and a 16-14 victory.

“There have been plenty of times when the offense has had to bail us out,” junior tackle Ethan Hemer said. “This year, we’ve bailed them out a little bit. As a team, we almost expect that. We expect to be in that role where we can shut out games.”

But the defense wasn’t without fault. On Utah State’s second drive of the first quarter, sophomore Aggies quarterback Chuckie Keeton capitalized on a wheel route – the very play that left senior linebacker Mike Taylor befuddled against Northern Iowa earlier this season – connecting with wide-open senior running back Kerwynn Williams for the game’s first score.

Utah State managed one more touchdown before the half. With one blown coverage and a second touchdown with a pass interference call, the Badgers defense started to key in on containing Keeton and forcing him to throw. Through the second half, the Aggies wouldn’t score again.

The defense’s performance was an all-around effort from each individual unit, exemplified by Taylor.

After his error on the go-ahead touchdown in the first quarter, Taylor seemingly took over the field. When a tackle had to be made, Taylor was there. The senior racked up 15 tackles and one tackle for a loss of four yards. Head coach Bret Bielema simply praised his game as “very active,” a note he repeated more than once.

In addition to Taylor’s tackle for a loss, the defense came up with three more, totaling eight yards. While the line consistently brought pressure, it all paid off when junior tackle David Gilbert registered the line’s first sack of the year – something he promised a week prior at Oregon State.

“That kind of stuff – turnovers, sacks – I just believe it’s going to come,” Hemer said. “We’ve had so many pressures on the quarterback the last few games and this week the coverage was great. We had a very shifty quarterback – you’ve got to give that guy a lot of credit – but it’s going to come. We’re all very confident. It’s little things, it’s a half-second here or there.”

While the defensive line remained consistent throughout the game and season, it’s still itching for a turnover, something it has in common with the secondary.

Normally cited as the weakest defensive unit, the secondary gave one of its strongest performances in the last year. While it was close on several occasions to reeling in an interception, the unit racked up nine pass breakups, three off the hands of junior cornerback Marcus Cromartie.

“I think pretty soon you’ll see a lot of (defensive backs) making more plays,” defensive back Dezmen Southward said. “We really do work the process each week. We go out and we work really hard. I think it’s only a matter of time before you see even more [pass breakups].”

Before it was all said and done, the defense needed one more game-changing, result-determining play: the final field goal. As the Aggies’ Josh Thompson pushed the 37-yarder wide right, Hemer didn’t know the result of the play until he heard the crowd cheer.

“We had a desperation call,” Hemer said. “I knew we had to make a big push down the middle, and we got it. I was just waiting for the call from the crowd; I didn’t know if anyone hit it. I was just happy to hear that we were all cheering.”

Overall, a strong performance from the defense, yet again, provided a needed renewal of faith not only within the team, but in the program as well.

“We felt like we were playing OK, but we felt like we weren’t doing enough,” Southward said. “We really wanted to come out and put our stamp on this game and show we can be a defense that can win games, and I think we proved that today. We didn’t play perfect, but we played with heart – and we never lost heart – and it showed in the second half. We came out, and we really worked to keep a team like that off of the board. It’s definitely a confidence booster.”