[media-credit name=’Ben Smidt’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Left end Erasmus James was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week with two sacks, a forced fumble and a deflected pass in Saturday’s win.

“He’s been a good run stopper, he’s been around the quarterback, he’s pressured the quarterback no matter how they’ve tried to block him,” head coach Barry Alvarez said. “He’s a guy you have to game-plan against.”

As a direct beneficiary of James’ excellence, linebacker Dontez Sanders believes that the size of the 6-foot-4, 263-pound defensive-lineman sets him apart from the rest.

“I think [James] is just a huge guy,” Sanders said. “He’s a big strong guy, fast. He’s got everything there to be a great defensive end.”

Stocco continues to progress:

Quarterback John Stocco has collected a 51.5 percent completion rate and an unspectacular 137 passing yards per game in the first three games of the season. Alvarez sees Stocco’s development as a series of phases.

“First thing you hope to get with a young quarterback is that he respects the football; he’s not sloppy, and he makes very few bad decisions,” Alvarez said. “I like his progress, and I think he’s made progress every week.”

Stocco was more critical of his own performance in the Arizona game, in which he threw for 116 yards and completed 12 of 24 passes.

“I missed some passes that I should’ve made,” Stocco said. What’s exciting for me is that I always know I can play better than how I’ve played the previous week.”

A rainy day in the desert:

Wisconsin’s win over Arizona received a premature intermission after lightning and rain forced the players back to the locker rooms with 6:13 remaining in the second quarter. The delay lasted 88 minutes before the players returned to the field.

“You get a lot out of a game like that,” Alvarez said. “You don’t want to go through the distractions. Don’t want to spend an hour and a half in the locker-room, not knowing when you’re going to play.”

Alvarez also mentioned that water was making its way into the visitor’s locker-room, creating a puddle in the center of the floor.

Fan Support at Camp Randall:

Sports Illustrated labeled the University of Wisconsin the ninth best college football weekend based on a series of categories, including atmosphere, student section, “God, country, football,” “Gipper factor,” in-game traditions and extracurriculars. The raucous game day atmosphere has helped the Badgers earn a 2-0 home record this season.

“It puts added stress on the visitor,” Alvarez said. “Audible calls — if you have a loud stadium, if only one player misses the audible, there’s a chance that the play won’t go. That miscommunication could cause a big play in the game.”

The crowd also fuels the play of the athletes, Sanders said.

“I love the fans,” the senior linebacker said. “They’re just jumping around, cheering, cursing. I’m out there waving my arms ’cause the fans get me going.”

Looking to tame the Lions:

Saturday’s nationally televised game, which will kick off at 4:45 p.m., pits No. 20 Wisconsin against unranked Penn State (2-1). The Badgers will have to look out for Nittany Lion tailback Tony Hunt, who has rushed for 303 yards with four touchdowns in the first three games of his sophomore season.

“[Hunt] is excellent. I’ve always felt they have excellent personnel,” Alvarez said. “[Quarterback Zack] Mills had a great game a couple years ago. They have a lot of weapons and create a lot of problems.”

In the 2002 contest between Penn State and Wisconsin, Mills passed for 287 yards, completing 21 passes in 37 attempts.