Defense faces potent attack from Badgers

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2003 | 9:35 a.m.

UNLV defensive coordinator Mike Bradeson admits he won't be getting very much sleep this week.

Not after dissecting the film of Saturday night's stunning 46-24 loss at Kansas. And not with a game at Big Ten power Wisconsin on the horizon.

"Every week is kind of like that," Bradeson said of the lack of shuteye.

But even moreso this week. After all, Bradeson doesn't only have to map out strategy to try to contain one Heisman Trophy candidate. He has to find a way to contain two in Badgers running back Anthony Davis as well as game-breaking wide receiver Lee Evans.

Davis is rated the leading candidate for the Heisman by CNNSI.com. He has already rushed for 414 yards and four touchdowns in two games, including 247 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries in Wisconsin's 48-31 victory against Akron on Saturday. If not for a holding call that wiped out a 65-yard run in the fourth quarter, Davis would have easily topped the 300-yard mark against the Zips.

At 5-foot-11, Evans is considered a high NFL first round pick because of his impressive 4.3 time in the 40. He caught nine passes for 214 yards against Akron including a school-record and Big Ten-record tying 99-yard reception in the fourth quarter after the Zips had crawled to within three points, 34-31. He set a Big Ten record with 1,545 receiving yards in 2001.

"These guys do pose a big problem," Bradeson admitted. "And its not just them. They have a lot of other really good football players on that team. They're big up front like they always are. And they have more than Evans at wide receiver. They have a couple of guys who played last year against us as freshmen (Jonathan Orr and Brandon Williams) that are a year older. They just have a lot of talent."

UNLV lost to the Evans-less Badgers, 27-7, in the Blackout Bowl last year at Sam Boyd Stadium. That game was stopped with 7:31 still remaining after an electrical transformer near Sam Boyd Stadium blew knocking out the main lighting in the stadium and also knocking the national ESPN2 broadcast off the air.

With Evans on the sideline with a season-ending knee injury, the Rebels were able to focus more of their attention on stopping Davis, who finished with 81 yards on 20 carries and no touchdowns. It was one of only seven times in Davis' 26-game career that he failed to hit the 100-yard rushing plateau.

"He's one of those tough, come-at-you-hard-every-play type of guys," UNLV coach John Robinson said.

Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who previously coached NCAA all-time rushing leader Ron Dayne and was on Lou Holtz's Notre Dame staff when Rocket Ismail and Ricky Watters played for the Fighting Irish, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel this week that Davis "is playing as good as any of them."

"Ron played at a pretty high level for four years," Alvarez added. "I'm just saying that (Davis) is every bit in that category. Maybe at the next level."

Bradeson, though, is more concerned with getting his own house in order. The Rebels counted at least 26 missed tackles in their loss at Kansas on Saturday night and the team lacked the emotion on defense that seemed to help carry it to a 28-18 victory against Toledo a week earlier.

When asked if the 26 missed tackles was a record, Bradeson replied, "I don't have a record for that. It's just way too many.

"We just didn't play with the fanaticism that we have to play with on every play. That's who we are. You only have 12 games, 13 with a bowl game, and you better come ready to play hard every game."

Especially this week.