Henry, Badgers focused on South Dakota

MADISON, Wis. -- The Badgers will play their last non-conference game before Big Ten play Saturday, when they host the FCS South Dakota Coyotes. On paper the game might look like another FCS cupcake coming to town as a warm up before conference play begins. After all, the Badgers are ranked No. 6 in the country by the AP poll, and the Coyotes hail from a lower division of college football. But senior safety Aaron Henry doesn't look at the Coyotes and see an easy week before Big Ten play starts.

"We treat them like any other game," Henry said after practice Wednesday. "We treat them just as seriously as we treated our first opponent, our second opponent, or our third opponent."

When asked if he gets any extra motivation from Coyote players saying they want to come in and hit the Badgers in the mouth, Henry denied it, and said the Badgers prepare the same way every week.

"They don't give us any added motivation, or take away from our motivation," Henry said. "It's never about the opponent, it's always about us."

"We go out there and we do what we've got to do, whether it's a top ten or top five opponent, or whether we're facing a team that other people say is not up to 'Wisconsin's standard.'"

Henry also mentioned that this last week of practice has been the Badgers' best yet this year, so it certainly doesn't sound like the team is looking past the Coyotes, who have beaten FBS teams in the past.

"This is the hardest that we've practiced since the last couple of weeks," Henry said. "This week has been the hardest for us. Guys are doing all the right things, flying to the ball, and I just want to see it all come together on Saturday."

Borland getting back to normal

After missing almost all of the 2010 season, linebacker Chris Borland getting back to his old self. Borland leads the team in tackles with 27, and has broken up two passes through three games. Borland said it's taken him a little longer to get back to normal, but he feels like he still has room for improvement. 

"It took a little bit of time," Borland said. "I felt like I could do one or the other the first two weeks. I could either play sound or play fast, I couldn't do both. But I'm starting to get back at it."

News and Notes

-- Henry echoed his defensive coaches Wednesday by saying he'd like for the defense to force more turnovers, but said he isn't worried about the low number this season just yet.

"[Turnovers] come in bunches- last year we didn't get a turnover until the fourth or fifth game of the season," Henry said. "They're going to come - it's just about being in the right place at the right time."

"The ultimate goal is to get the ball back to our offense as fast as we can."

-- Before the defensive players came out for interviews, I noticed right tackle Josh Oglesby was not in pads for practice today. His MRI only showed a sprain and could come back this week, according to a tweet from Bielema, but I wouldn't be surprised if they give Oglesby Saturday off to rest his knee before the Big Ten season kicks off. Look for redshirt freshman Rob Havenstein to get the start on Saturday. 

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