Heading into the 2003 season, the buzz around the Wisconsin football team centered on its dynamic receiving corps.

The biggest question was whether the return of All-American Lee Evans to a group of wideouts that included two first-team freshman All-Big Ten selections would spur head coach Barry Alvarez to open up his notoriously conservative offense.

The answer has come in a resounding no.

“Coach Alvarez has his style of coaching, and it all starts with the running game,” Evans said. Evans, as a senior, has been around long enough to understand the way things work at Wisconsin. “He’s a hard-nosed coach, and that’s how he coaches the game.”

Despite an injury to starting tailback Anthony Davis, which has kept him out of most of the last three games, the Badgers have still racked up 242 rushing attempts to only 122 passes, including a 62-13 ratio in Saturday’s 38-20 win at Illinois.

“I’ve learned a lot of patience [playing in this offense],” Williams said.

It certainly comes in handy.

You won’t catch the Badgers’ receivers sulking about their roles. Instead, you’ll find them consistently delivering key blocks downfield to spring UW ball carriers for big gains.

They were a major reason UW was able to compile 321 rushing yards against the Fighting Illini, a stunning total for a team missing its top running back.

Plenty of credit is due to runners Dwayne Smith and Booker Stanley, who personally accounted for 248 of those yards, as well as the offensive line, which consistently opened gaping holes for the backs.

But the unsung heroes of the game were the wide receivers.

Though they only accounted for 120 yards receiving, 75 of which came on one catch by Williams, they blocked well for the Badger runners all game long.

“[Blocking] is something they take a lot of pride in, and that’s to their credit,” receivers coach Henry Mason said.

They take pride in it, yes. But do they enjoy it?

That depends on whom you ask.

“Any offense you’re in, you have to block,” Evans said.

His attitude is about what you’d expect from a player who hauled in 75 passes for 1,545 yards two seasons ago and was one of 15 finalists for the National Offensive Player of the Year.

“It’s not a receiver’s dream,” he said, laughing. “It’s not my favorite thing to do.”

But he knows what to expect and has done a fine job on almost all occasions in 2003.

It’s probably not Williams’ favorite thing to do either, but the receiver emphasized the positive.

“Blocking is fun,” Williams said. “When you block, the game goes by faster because the running back gets big chunks [of yardage].”

It’s a moot point, really. The bottom line is that what the receivers like most of all is winning.

“They wanted to go in there and win that football game (against Illinois),” Mason said, “and if that took a bunch of blocking, that’s what they were going to do.

“If we were going to get into a throwing contest, they were going to handle their business that way.”

Williams echoed those statements.

“Whenever the team is rolling like we have been, it’s always good for the team,” he said. “As long as we’re winning, that’s all that really matters.”

So, with the Badgers sitting at 4-1 heading into this week’s matchup with Penn State, the receivers will continue mucking away to pave the way for Davis, Smith, Stanley or whoever else while waiting for any balls thrown their way.

And if they happen to find themselves in a shootout where they have to spread the field and quarterback Jim Sorgi throws the ball 40 or 50 times, well, one gets the sense that would probably be okay with them, too.