[media-credit name=’BEN CLASSON/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Before Indiana snapped the ball on offense, it was down a timeout and three points. It was merely a sign of the struggles to come.

The Badgers (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten), behind an array of looks at running back who combined for 279 rushing yards, thumped the Hoosiers (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) 33-3 Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.

P.J. Hill set the tempo early on, rushing for 57 yards on 12 carries and a first-quarter touchdown to give Wisconsin a 10-0 lead before leaving the game for good with what head coach Bret Bielema called a "bruised top of his foot."

In Hill’s place, sophomore Lance Smith rushed for a career-best 79 yards and two second-half touchdowns on 15 carries.

From the outset, Indiana’s high-powered spread offense that had scored at least 14 points in every game this season looked lifeless. It went three-and-out on its first series — this after calling a timeout before its first offensive play — and managed 18 yards of total offense in the first quarter.

"As an offense, it makes you a lot more comfortable and puts you in a comfort zone knowing that you can stick to your game plan and not get out of whack," UW quarterback Tyler Donovan said of how the defense’s play allowed the offense to stick with the running game.

Then the sloppy play set in. Indiana running back Josiah Sears fumbled away a drive on the Hoosiers’ next possession. It was one of five turnovers forced by the Badger defense — a unit that had seven takeaways on the season coming in.

"We were creating those turnovers," Bielema said. "You see guys attacking the football. … which carried over to turnovers. There were some big hits, sound collisions and two guys to the ball."

Wisconsin used a nine-play, 40-yard drive capped by a Taylor Mehlhaff 41-yard field goal to jump out to the early lead. Going back to what worked, the Badgers utilized nine rushes by Hill to charge down the field and build a two-possession lead when the sophomore tailback punched it in from inside the 1-yard line on fourth down. Thanks to Hill and company’s bruising runs, the Badgers controlled the ball for 12:21 in the opening frame, and 35:23 during the game.

The defense did its part as well. Some of the biggest playmakers in the Big Ten — receiver James Hardy and quarterback Kellen Lewis — were held in check throughout.

"The spread was basically haunting us all year and we came out great against them with a great quarterback and great receiver threat, and we came out ready to play, ready to take on that challenge," linebacker Jonathan Casillas said.

Hardy, who had 11 touchdowns and 748 receiving yards entering Saturday’s game, finished with a season-low 17 yards on four catches. He also fumbled away a reception when the Hoosiers were down 17-3 and driving in the third quarter.

"With the defense, we really had the idea that we wanted [Indiana] to play left-handed," Bielema said. "We wanted to take away what they do best, kind of dictate the flow of the game.

"I thought our guys really flew to the football."

It appeared as though the Hoosiers’ string of bad luck was over when running back Marcus Thigpen dashed 84 yards into the end zone to cut the Badgers’ lead to 17-9. But it only worsened their predicament.

Hardy was called for a holding penalty downfield, and Thigpen, who assumed the run counted, was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for his touchdown celebration. Instead of kicking the point after, Indiana faced a third-and-17 from its own 12-yard line. As was the trend all day — UW held IU to 4 of 14 on third down conversions — the Hoosiers were stopped and forced to punt.

Linebacker DeAndre Levy doesn’t know if that play would have gone in Wisconsin’s favor a few weeks ago, given the defense’s struggles at that point in time.

"That’s a play that never gets called back a few weeks back," he said. "We’re looking, praying that it gets called back. But the (refs) made a good call catching Hardy on the [hold]."

The Badgers wasted little time taking advantage of the Hoosiers’ errors, pounding the ball 78 yards to boost their lead to 24-3 on Smith’s 6-yard run.

Lewis never got into a groove, finishing 17-of-33 with 113 passing yards and 59 rushing yards, zero touchdowns, two interceptions and a fumble.

Then again, neither did Donovan. The UW senior signal caller failed to throw a touchdown pass for the second consecutive game and extended his streak of games with a pick to six.

Late in the second quarter he stared down receiver Paul Hubbard and cornerback Tracy Porter stepped underneath to pick the pass off at the goal line. Indiana capitalized on Donovan’s mistake by scoring its only points of the day — a 49-yard field goal from the leg of Austin Starr on its ensuing possession.

Freshman running back Zach Brown picked up his first collegiate touchdown in the second quarter to give Wisconsin a 17-0 lead. He finished with a personal best 40 yards on 14 carries.

"He’s not a freshman anymore. He has really settled into the way he’s prepared," Bielema said. "And the way he handled the game today, the way he ran the football, protecting it, speaks volumes for him in the future."