MADISON, Wis. _ Wisconsin's early struggles in the opener were understandable and pretty much wiped away by a 59-point outburst that turned a deficit into a laugher.
But the manner in which Paul Chryst's team sputtered for much of Saturday afternoon against Florida Atlantic has to be cause for concern with the opening Big Ten play looming.
UW's defense pitched a second-half shutout but the mistake-prone offense managed just one touchdown drive in a 31-14 victory that surely didn't impress the Camp Randall Stadium crowd.
UW (2-0) faces a trip to BYU (1-1), next week.
Led by fabulous freshman tailback Jonathan Taylor (26 carries, 223 yards and three touchdowns), UW drove for touchdowns on its second and third possessions of the game to build a 14-0 lead with 6 minutes 40 seconds left in the first quarter.
To that point, Taylor had 119 yards and two touchdowns, on runs of 64 and 29 yards, on just six carries.
UW was rolling and the fans were rocking.
Then after the teams exchanged punts, UW's gaffes began to appear.
First wide receiver DeAndre McNeal got behind cornerback Nick Nelson and safety Natrell Jamerson for a 63-yard touchdown reception to help the Owls pull within 14-7 with 3:09 left in the quarter.
It appeared Nelson thought he had safety help over the top on the play but Jamerson was near the middle of the field as McNeal was breaking open near the right sideline.
Then UW drove from its 25 to second and goal at the Owls' 2.
Taylor got three consecutive carries and the results were: 1, 0 and 0.
The Owls took over on downs with 12:11 left in the first half and Camp Randall Stadium sounded like a library during finals week.
Then quarterback Alex Hornibrook (16 of 28 for 201 yards with one touchdown and one interception) contributed to the foundering first-half performance with an interception in UW territory.
Hornibrook was in rhythm early and hit 8 of his first 9 attempts for 93 yards and a touchdown, a 12-yard strike to tight end Troy Fumagalli. He struggled after the turnover, however, and completed 8 of his final 19 attempts for 108 yards.
The Owls drove 27 yards in just five plays for a touchdown after the interception, with tailback Devin Singletary (17-68-1 TD) scoring from 1 yard with 4:29 left in the half.
UW countered with a 20-yard field goal by Rafael Gaglianone with two seconds left in the half for a 24-14 lead but the overall performance was substandard.
The Badgers came away with no points despite getting three cracks at the end zone from the 2 or closer; gave up a touchdown after Hornibrook's interception; generated little pass rush to help the linebackers and defensive backs; and the secondary allowed pass plays of 63 and 35 yards.
Taylor capped off a 79-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter with a 4-yard run to help UW build its lead to 31-14. However, the next drive resulted in nothing despite UW taking over at the Florida Atlantic 37 after a punt and another drive ended with a missed 37-yard field-goal attempt by Gaglianone with 6:15 left.
UW's offense appeared unstoppable at times in the opener against Utah State.
By contrast, the unit appeared incapable of turning yards into points on Saturday.
