[media-credit name=’GREG SCHMITZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]LAS VEGAS — For the second consecutive week, the first quarter wasn't kind to Wisconsin's defense.

The Badgers gave up an 80-yard scoring drive on UNLV's second possession of the game. The touchdown drive marks the third time this season Wisconsin has given up an 80-yard scoring drive in the first quarter.

"I think we're fully capable of going out there and getting the job done," cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu said. "We just have to be more ready to play at the beginning of the game. It's not any individual person. It's a collective unit.

"It's frustrating to give up early drives like that, but we'll get better."

One of the contributing reasons to Wisconsin's early struggles was Rebels redshirt quarterback Travis Dixon's play.

He passed for 258 yards and a touchdown.

"He was pretty good. He surprised us," Ikegwuonu said. "From the film that we watched, we expected a lot more of the run game, and he came out and was just throwing the ball all over the place, so we woke up after that first scoring drive and really buckled down and made adjustments."

Dixon's ability to run the spread offense opened up the offense for his receivers. Casey Flair caught 10 balls for 126 yards and a score.

Like last week, the defense adjusted by going to more press and man coverage and made enough plays to give the offense a chance to win.

"They were stopping us on offense so we just needed to respond on defense," Ikegwuonu said.

Quarterback Tyler Donovan managed just 138 passing yards and led the offense to two offensive touchdowns. Part of the problem was that his receivers at times couldn't catch the ball. Even the normally sure-handed senior Luke Swan dropped a pass near the goal line at the end of the first half, a play which ultimately forced UW to settle for three points rather than seven.

Tight end Travis Beckum dropped another crucial pass, this time over the middle, stalling an early fourth-quarter drive with Wisconsin down by one.

In all, Wisconsin receivers accounted for nearly half of Donovan's 12 incompletions.

"It happens. It's football," Donovan said. "There's no doubt in my mind that I'm going to them next time. I got full faith in those guys."

Despite the missed opportunities, UW head coach Bret Bielema said he was pleased with how his players had short-term memory and went out and made plays after their mistakes.

"I think there were some things that we weren't especially clean on, but I liked the way they responded to the situation," he said. "Travis was one of the guys who put one on the ground, and he responded positively after that, same thing with a couple of our other players."

Home game atmosphere

The only times UNLV has ever sold out a game have been when Wisconsin was in town.

Given that the game was held in Las Vegas and Badger fans travel in swarms to any road game, Saturday's game was almost a home game away from home.

"That's a good thing about Wisconsin fans — they travel a lot," linebacker Elijah Hodge said.

While it was difficult to distinguish between Badger fans and Rebel fans — both teams share cardinal and white as their team colors — it became quite evident that the Wisconsin faithful were on hand when Donovan laid out for the game-winning touchdown.

"That's good when you have a lot of support," UW running back P.J. Hill said. "You got the momentum on our side. We just had to take their energy into the game."

Hubbard hurt

Wide receiver Paul Hubbard left the game midway through the third quarter with a right knee injury. The injury occurred when Hubbard got tangled up with some UNLV and UW players following a short Hill run. He left the field under the assistance of two trainers and did not return. Hubbard's status is unclear and likely won't be known for a few more days.

Freshman Kyle Jefferson took most of the reps at the other receiver position in Hubbard's absence.