The big cheese on Wisconsin defense

Steve Carp

Thursday, Sept. 12, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Give Pete Monty credit. He could have spent the rest of his life resting on his laurels, comfortable in the fact that his tackle of UCLA quarterback Wayne Cook sealed Wisconsin's 1994 Rose Bowl victory.

Instead, he parlayed that tackle as a freshman into a starting linebacker role, and is an all-Big Ten performer and the Badgers' leading tackler.

"You never want to be satisfied," said the senior captain from Fort Collins, Colo. "You always think you can do better, and I use that to motivate myself to improve."

The 6-foot-2, 249-pounder won't be hard to find Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium. Just look for the ball when UNLV has it and chances are you'll see Monty. He has tremendous pursuit, is strong enough to fight off blocks and quick enough to run people down.

"We have a lot of pride on our defense," he said. "We tend to get overlooked but we know we've got guys who can play."

And the Wisconsin defense may be looking to make a statement this year. The Badgers limited Eastern Michigan to just a field goal in last week's season opener. Saturday, they go up against a UNLV offense that is averaging just 44.5 yards per game on the ground.

"You have to remember they've played two very good teams (in Tennessee and Air Force)," Monty said of the Rebels. "I'm real impressed with their quarterback (Jon Denton). He's a very good athlete and if we let him run around and make plays on us, he can keep them in the game by himself."

Last week, Monty had eight tackles as Eastern Michigan rushed for just 44 yards. He said the Badgers will be ready if UNLV tries to open things up.

"We made some mistakes last week and we need to correct them," he said. "UNLV will try and spread us out like Eastern Michigan did, so I think it's a matter of us refining and fine-tuning some things and executing."

Monty was a two-time all-state selection in Colorado and he was coveted by both Colorado and hometown Colorado State. But one trip to Madison was all it took for Monty to leave the Rockies and head to Dairyland.

"I fell in love with the place," he said of Madison. "The support you get from the fans is unbelievable. Playing in the Big Ten is great because every week, you're playing in front of these huge crowds.

"We went to Penn State last year and they had like 96,000. And it was really loud. But we brought a lot of fans and we could hear them rooting for us in that stadium above that lion roar thing they do there. That pumps you up."

And he's excited about the fact Saturday's game will be a mini-Camp Randall Stadium as more than 30,000 Badger fans are traveling to Las Vegas.

"It has the guys pumped," he said. "Everyone knows we have great fans. But to have a home game on the road is going to be exciting for the players."

Extra points

* TAILGATE HISTORY: The pregame tailgate party Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium is being billed as the world's largest. The tailgate, which will be held on the old Posse practice field behind the north end zone, costs $25 and includes all the beer you can drink and all the bratwurst you can eat. The gates open at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and will feature the world's largest touring grill. The grill, owned by Johnsonville Foods, is 45 feet long, weighs 32,250 pounds and can cook 2,500 brats per hour.

* CHEESEHEAD INVASION: The 30,000 Wisconsin fans began arriving Wednesday and the bulk of the arrivals will be today and Friday. Twenty-six chartered aircraft carrying 8,500 people will leave Dane County Regional Airport in the next 24 hours with thousands of others flying in on commercial flights. Many hotels are booked solid and the economic impact on Las Vegas for the football game could reach eight figures, especially including those coming to town for the inaugural Las Vegas 500K auto race Sunday.