[media-credit name=’Ben Smith’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]If defense wins championships, the Badgers have to like their chances. Two weeks in, Wisconsin’s defense has scored more points (11) than it has allowed (9). The Badgers have not surrendered a touchdown all year, and the defense has already scored one and had an apparent score called back by review.

“I don’t know how much more you can ask out of a defense,” head coach Barry Alvarez said.

In Saturday’s win over UNLV, the UW defense was the leading scorer. With a pair of safeties and a touchdown, the Badgers’ defense outscored the Rebels’ offense 11-3. Wisconsin’s defense also outscored the UW offense, which managed just seven points in the victory.

“That’s a goal that we put up on our bulletin board: we want to score on defense,” defensive coordinator Bret Bielema said. “I don’t know if a lot of people have that idea, that philosophy, but I think one thing, defensively, that you have to take the approach is, you take care of your responsibility. Any time you have an opportunity to score, that’s what you need to do.”

With two safeties in the win, Wisconsin matched a Big Ten record. The last time a Big Ten team had two safeties in a game was in 1981, when Minnesota did it against Indiana. A UW team has not accomplished the feat since Oct. 20, 1951 against Purdue.

In a defensive struggle, the Badgers defense came out on top Saturday. Neither offense scored until the 4:40 mark in the third quarter, when the Rebels notched their only three points of the day on a 34-yard field goal. By that time, the UW defense had already scored 11 points.

The Badgers defense is off to a tremendous start under new defensive coordinator Bielema, who has introduced an aggressive, attacking style to the defensive corps. With Bielema calling the plays, the UW defense is not only shutting teams down, but putting up points of its own.

“You could see that the offense was a little flat today, and we stepped it up,” Leonhard said after the game. “We talk about it all the time, making plays on special teams and on defense getting points; not just making plays, getting points.”

In addition to establishing itself as a big-play defense, Wisconsin’s defensive corps has smothered the opposing offense in each of the first two games. Saturday’s victim was UNLV tailback Dominique Dorsey.

After posting 121 yards on 18 carries against Tennessee in week one, Dorsey was expected to be a major factor for the Rebels in Saturday’s game. But the diminutive tailback managed just 57 yards on 14 carries (4.1 yards per carry) against the Badgers’ formidable defensive line.

“We just kept him contained,” defensive tackle Jason Jefferson said. “We never let him get outside of us. If you can keep him in-between, it will be much easier for your pursuit and everyone else to get there.”

Wisconsin has not allowed a 100-yard rusher all year, a testament to the dominance of an experienced defensive line and a surprisingly effective young linebacker corps. The linebackers turned in another strong performance Saturday, led by sophomore Reggie Cribbs and junior Dontez Sanders.

Cribbs led the Badgers with eight tackles and blocked a field goal on a play that served as the turning point in the game. With Wisconsin leading by just two points (after the defense’s first safety), UNLV was on the verge of taking the lead when Cribbs came up with the block that led to Jim Leonhard’s 86-yard touchdown return. The 10-point swing shifted the momentum dramatically, allowing the Badgers to head into halftime with a 9-0 lead.

Sanders finished as the Badgers’ second-leading tackler (7) and picked up an apparent interception that was erased by defensive tackle Jason Jefferson’s late hit on UNLV quarterback Shane Steichen. Though his biggest play was brought back by the officials for a second straight week, Sanders turned in another impressive performance Saturday. And for a second straight week, Sanders seemed to enjoy every minute.

“It’s fun when you go out there with Anttaj (Hawthorne) and JJ (Jason Jefferson) and all of them in front of you and behind you you’ve got Jim Leonhard and Sparky (Scott Starks), you just go out there and play fun.” Sanders said.

In his first year at the helm, Bielema has the Badgers defense on pace for one of the most remarkable seasons in recent memory. The defense has outscored the opposing offense, posted two safeties in one game, and scored a touchdown off of a blocked field goal. However, one goal remains for the dominant defensive corps.

“We’ve been trying to pitch a shutout for the past couple weeks; hopefully we can get it in next week,” defensive back Scott Starks said. “Our confidence has been building up since spring ball — ever since Bielema walked in here. He just brought a whole different swagger, a whole different speed to the game.”