[media-credit name=’MATTHEW KUTZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — If you had read the local newspapers before the game, you probably would've believed that the Illinois Fighting Illini had almost no chance of beating the Wisconsin Badgers Saturday afternoon. Well, at least that's how UW head coach Barry Alvarez felt.

With a high-profile clash against co-Big Ten leader Penn State just on the horizon, it's understandable that Alvarez was worried his team might overlook a downtrodden Illinois squad.

"I was hoping they didn't read the papers here too much, because it sure seemed like [the Illinois media] were down on their kids for this week's game," Alvarez said. "I didn't want them to think it would be easy."

Well, any illusions the Badgers may have had of an easy game were put to rest Saturday, as the Illinois offense proved to be more than a handful for the Wisconsin defense. More succinctly, however, quarterback Tim Brasic was a handful for the Badgers.

The junior wreaked havoc on the Wisconsin defensive front all day with his ability to get outside the pocket on scramble. And he made this effect known early. On Illinois' second scoring drive, the Illini signal caller converted a pair of third downs, including one third-and-15 situation, with his legs, bringing his team within three points of UW.

By the end of the first half, the Riverside, Ill., native had run roughshod over the Badgers' defense for 48 yards, and by the end of the game, he'd increased that total to 116.

"He just kept finding space to run," sophomore linebacker Andy Crooks said. "He did a great job on the ground and I don't know what we could've done differently. We were spying him and he kept getting yards."

Brasic's ability to run against Wisconsin brought to the forefront the effect the absence of starting mike linebacker Mark Zalewski had on the defense. Sitting out after suffering a knee injury against Purdue, Zalewski is a player defensive coordinator Bret Bielema admitted would have drawn the task of stopping Brasic on Illinois' option looks as well as on scrambles out of the pocket.

"He was improved, but wasn't improved enough to play," Alvarez said of Zalewski's status. "I am hoping [he'll be able to play against Penn State], I think there's a good chance. You can speculate he may not play but I have a feeling he'll be ready to practice this week."

But without Zalewski at his disposal, Bielema tried a litany of different looks to stop the Illinois signal caller, at some points even taking out senior linebackers LaMarr Watkins and Dontez Sanders and replacing them with true freshmen DeAndre Levy and Jonathan Casillas.

"I wasn't happy with them at particular times but they get better each week and I think it's important to them," Bielema said of Levy and Casillas. "I want everyone to understand that, especially defensively with linebackers, the guys who are going to play are the guys who're going to help us win."

But Brasic wasn't just causing problems for the UW defensive linemen and linebackers. He did his fair share of damage through the air, amassing 277 yards and two touchdowns for Illinois, numbers the defense admits are unacceptable.

"Once again this week we're kind of the redheaded step-child, it's something that's not acceptable and something we're definitely going to have to get straightened out before next week," defensive lineman Mike Newkirk said.

But Bielema isn't ready to push the panic button just yet. The UW defensive coordinator knows things have gotten ugly at times for the defense, but with another scrambling quarterback on the horizon — one that has a more potent offense at his disposal — in Penn State's Michael Robinson, he believes the corrections made in the next few days could be the difference in next week's contest.

"It hasn't been pretty in any way this year but I think we knew that coming in," Bielema said. "But they scrap, they claw and at the end I just asked for everybody's eyes and said 'You are a resilient group, you battle every week, no one can ever say you quit in a particular situation,' which means they have a great amount of pride. This week they've just got to be able to do something special."