[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]It's no secret Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez wasn't happy with the play of his defensive backs Saturday against Bowling Green. In fact, Alvarez was downright cranky when discussing their play.

Not that it's hard to blame him, as his defense allowed a 458-yard, five-touchdown performance by the Falcon's Omar Jacobs. Aside from the numbers, the unit's sloppy play disappointed him more than anything else.

"I'm certainly not pleased with what we got back there in some of the positions," Alvarez said. "Everyone has a responsibility and everyone plays off of that responsibility, so it was very disappointing to me to see two or three guys not playing their techniques and responsibilities like they'd been taught."

Admittedly, the biggest responsibility lapse for UW this past weekend was the secondary's inability to prevent big plays. The Badgers gave up passes of 63, 46 and 42 yards Saturday, as well as numerous completions in the 10-to-20-yard range.

"We definitely can't let any balls over our head," secondary coach Ron Lee said. "We've got to step up to the challenge. It's not about Temple, it's not about Bowling Green, but what we do. We have to play better than that."

Technique has been the biggest emphasis for the squad since Saturday's game. While communication was a problem at times, especially with the vast number of defensive alignments employed by the Badgers, coaches feel sloppy technique was the largest culprit in Saturday's game.

"You try to give an emphasis to them to give back and trust what you practice," Alvarez said. "That's why you practice. You know, a couple of our guys, I don't know why they did practice. They could have done what they did just by showing up on Saturday. That's disappointing."

Coaches are sending a clear message that they will not accept any half-hearted attempts from their players. Alvarez wasn't willing to name the players he felt played poorly, though there have been a few conspicuous shifts in the depth chart.

Redshirt freshman Allen Langford has unseated senior Levonne Rowan at the left cornerback spot, opposite Brett Bell, according to a team release. Langford did start last week as the nickel cornerback, recording one tackle, but his play earned him a promotion from the nickel back role.

While Coach Lee isn't yet ready to say that Langford has earned the position, he's more than happy with what he's seen from his young cornerback.

"Allen, he's a mature guy, a mature player. He carries himself with a lot of poise, and that's important," Lee said. "It's about body language; you don't let anyone see if you're tired. You don't let anyone see if you're down."

For his part, Langford is approaching this weekend's game against Temple as if the starting spot is his.

"That's where I plan to be," Langford said. "I just want to go out there and work hard every play and do the best that I can."

Also earning his way to a spot atop the depth chart is junior Joe Stellmacher, who unseated fellow classmate Johnny White. Stellmacher is looking for his first starting action since the 2003 season.

"Stellmacher's a tough guy. Stellmacher is a guy that loves the game," Lee said. "Stellmacher's going to play if he's got one leg and one arm. He's going to play the game. And those are the type of guys you love to coach."

However, if the secondary play doesn't improve, more moves could be on the way.

"We may give a few of the young guys an opportunity," Alvarez admitted. "We may take a look at some of the freshmen and give them more reps and see if they can give us what we're looking for. But I'm certainly not pleased with what we got back there in some of the positions, and we have to take a look at some other guys and take a look at some other options."

The secondary will need to remain on its toes with the Temple Owls traveling to town this weekend. Temple quarterback Mike McGann is well established in the Owl annals, and has passed for 4,701 yards in his career. With the performance of the defense last weekend, Temple will surely be looking to exploit the Badgers in that area.

"We'll expect them to come out in a spread offense, after they see what Bowling Green did to us last week," Stellmacher said. "If I was them, I'd attack our weakness, too. But in practice, we're focusing on it. We're communicating 100 percent. Make no mental breakdowns and hopefully we won't give up the plays like we did last week."