[media-credit name=’Derek Montgomery’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Fueled by the return of senior tailback Anthony Davis, the Badgers extended their winning streak to five games with a 24-7 victory over Illinois (2-3, 0-2).

With the win, Wisconsin moves to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten, the program's strongest start since the 1998 campaign, when Ron Dayne and company won their first of two consecutive Rose Bowl titles.

"I'm very pleased with the win," head coach Barry Alvarez said. "I wanted to come out of the game playing better and feeling better about all three phases of the game. I thought we did that."

The defenses dominated in the first quarter until Wisconsin staged a nine-play, 73-yard scoring drive. Quarterback John Stocco got the drive going with a 22-yard strike to tight end Owen Daniels to move the ball to midfield.

Davis brought the Badgers into Illinois territory with a pair of runs to the 37-yard line and Stocco connected with the standout tailback for an 18-yard completion to move inside the red zone. Two plays later, Davis sprinted into the end zone from 16 yards out to give the Badgers a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

"I was happy with the way we came out and I felt we were ready to play today," Davis said.

On the Badgers' next possession, Davis led another long drive as Wisconsin marched 58 yards in 12 plays to move into Illinois territory. On third down and one from the 45-yard line, Davis broke a 27-yard run down the sideline to set up a 48-yard field goal for senior placekicker Mike Allen.

The kick, which gave Wisconsin a 10-0 lead with 5:32 remaining in the first half, was Allen's longest of the year and the second-longest field goal in Allen's career. After converting just two of his first five attempts this season, Allen has now successfully hit five consecutive field goals.

"Confidence will never waver in me, and I don't think it wavers that much in anyone else on our team," Allen said. "I don't think anyone on this team has that type of problem. Missing a few field goals, missing a few tackles, something like that, that doesn't mean anything. Those are over, that doesn't matter anymore."

In the final two minutes, Illinois moved the ball to the 37-yard line but a sack from linebacker Dontez Sanders halted their momentum and the Illini were forced to punt. With the stop, Wisconsin entered halftime with a 10-0 lead, holding their opponent scoreless in the first half for the fourth time in five games.

"Going into the game, I told the kids that it was the best challenge we had had to this point," defensive coordinator Bret Bielema said. "I really felt that they (Illinois) were the best offensive line, best running back tandem, and best quarterback that we'd seen coming in, and I felt for three quarters they really rised up to the challenge. I think they competed, they prepared well, and the results in the first three quarters indicate it."

Illinois quarterback Jon Beutjer opened the second half with a string of completions to move the ball to midfield. Wisconsin's Jamal Cooper brought Beutjer down for a 14-yard loss on a sack, but a facemask penalty erased the loss and put the Illini on the Wisconsin 46-yard line.

After the penalty, Beutjer connected with Kendrick Jones for 13 yards to set up a 47-yard field goal attempt for placekicker Steve Weatherford. However, Weatherford failed to put the Illini on the board, missing the kick wide left.

The Badgers would capitalize on the miscue, which gave them possession on their own 30-yard line. After three strong runs from Davis, Stocco moved his team inside Illinois territory with a 21-yard pass to Daniels.

Davis took the ball down to the 2-yard line with a 26-yard run and scored on a 7-yard scamper after a holding penalty pushed Wisconsin back to the seven. Davis' second touchdown of the day put the Badgers ahead 17-0 with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter.

After Beutjer completed just 12 of 27 passes for 85 yards, the Illini sent their starting quarterback to the bench in favor of redshirt freshman Brad Bower for the final possession of the third quarter. After two unsuccessful drives, Bower was replaced under center by sophomore Chris Pazan.

In his first drive of the game, Pazan took advantage of a short field to put the Illini on the board. After Stocco fumbled when he was hit on a sack, Illinois took over on their own 34-yard line.

Using their third quarterback of the game, the Illini moved inside the red zone on an 18-yard completion from Pazan to wide-out Kendrick Jones. Pazan then found Jason Davis for a 9-yard strike to move inside the UW 10-yard line. The sophomore capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Melvin Bryant, ending the Badgers' bid for a shutout.

"It's inexcusable," Bielema said of the touchdown, which was just the second his team has allowed in five games.

The Badgers answered on the following drive, as Davis exploded for a 31-yard touchdown run to give Wisconsin a commanding 24-7 lead. After scoring his third touchdown of the afternoon, Davis saluted section O of the student section and was assessed a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"AD was fired up, it was his third touchdown and he broke that tackle, so why not give a little of it back to the students?" fullback Matt Bernstein said. "I'm happy AD did it. It makes all the students happy."

In his first game back after missing three games with an eye injury, Davis ran for 213 yards on 27 carries (7.9 yards per carry). With Davis leading the way, the Badgers gained 258 yards on the ground, 216 more than the Illini.

"From day one, I've been saying that AD is our guy and that we build our offense around him, and it's true," Bernstein said. "He's awesome. I mean, look what he did today, and this was against a pretty good defense."

Late in the fourth quarter Illinois was threatening on the Wisconsin 24-yard line when Sanders, who recorded a career-high 13 tackles on the day, sacked Pazan and knocked the ball loose. Battery-mate Mark Zalewski recovered the fumble on the 35 to secure a 24-7 victory.

Wisconsin's defense turned in another dominant performance, holding Illinois' heralded rushing attack to just 42 yards on 1.6 yards per carry and limiting the Illini to 206 yards of total offense.

"I really felt that this was by far the best offense [we have seen] and one of the better offenses we'll see," Alvarez said. "They have weapons and threats in all areas, all their skill positions. I was very pleased with how our defense responded and how they played."