CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– It was evident from the first play of the game that things were not going to look too bright for the Badgers’ defensive line. In fact, it looked downright awful.

It did not help the defense knowing that senior tackle Jake Sprague has been out all season with a shoulder injury and sophomore end-tackle Darius Jones has missed the past month and half with a hand injury.

So when senior Delante McGrew hurt his knee on the first play of the game, it was time for defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove to play Russian roulette with his line. Filling in for McGrew was redshirt freshman Jonathan Welsh and sophomore Erasmus James. At times, even nose guard Ben Herbert was unable to play and sophomore Nick Cochart took his place at the nose tackle spot.

When it looked like things couldn’t get any worse for the Badgers defensive line, they did. Early in the first quarter senior defensive linemen Chuck Smith went down and stayed down for quite awhile. However, he was able to get up and walk off the field unassisted and returned to the game a short while later.

“We’re really going to have to regroup,” said UW’s head coach Barry Alvarez. “We were thin to start with and right now I don’t know where we are, quite frankly. You don’t like to lose one of your better pass rushers on the very first play of the game on just a quick throw.”

However, it wasn’t so much the rearrangement of the defensive line that has had the coaches worrying, it is the lack of production that those on the front line have produced in the past few weeks.

For the second time in three weeks UW failed to record a sack. Not once against Indiana did Wisconsin take down Antwaan Randle El from behind the line of scrimmage, and Illinois’ Kurt Kittner had the same benefit Saturday. Kittner, who passed for 401 yards and four touchdowns, threw the ball 45 times. Kittner was hurried only once during the loss.

With about four minutes left in the second quarter, the Badger front, led by Wendell Bryant, was able to break past UI’s offensive linemen to put Kittner on a run for his money. However, Kittner was able to get the ball off in time to give Illinois another first down.

Bryant, who leads the team in sacks with seven, addressed the unexpected losses on the defensive line and the need for the inexperienced players to step into leadership roles.

“[McGrew’s] down, [Smith’s] down, [Herbert’s] down — nobody can expect that three starters are going to go out in a game,” Bryant said. “That just tells our young guys that they’re going to have to step up. Right now people are going to have to take notes; they’re going to have to play.”

If any of the next four games are anything like Saturday’s loss, the younger players are going to be learning the hard way. The Wisconsin defensive line was out on the field for almost 37 of the 60 minutes of the game. The exhaustion was evident not only on the players’ faces, but in their performance as well.

“Running up and down the field ? you’re going to be tired,” said Bryant. “We couldn’t get off the field in third and long — that was it. I don’t know if it was [Kittner or not]. Nobody went out there and made a play.”

For now, with the numerous injuries occurring on the defensive line, the defensive scheme is going to be changing before the week’s end. Cosgrove is going to assess the depth he has left and figure out the best way to use what he has.

“We got a lot of young kids out there, and it’s a live-and-learn experience and they’re going to see a lot of different things,” Cosgrove said. “As they become more experienced, they’re going to become better football players. We are where we are right now until we find a way to get better.”