Bret Bielema is extremely fortunate that his offense and defense are less predictable than he is.

In fact, just about any reporter who has covered Bielema during his three seasons as football coach at the University of Wisconsin would have won the bet had they tried to predict his initial take on UW's 51-14 victory over Marshall Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, a game in which the Badgers trailed 14-0 early in the second quarter but dominated the Thundering Herd thereafter.

"Some of you guys might be taking lines on what I'm going to open up with," Bielema said before launching into one of his signature coaching axioms, "but it's not what happens during the course of the game, it's how you react to it. I think our guys defined that today."

The Badgers did more than define it, they lived it.

For the second time in two games, UW allowed a lightly regarded team from a lightly regarded conference to throw a scare into it in the first half. In their first game, the Badgers led Akron by only 17-10 at halftime. Saturday, they were positively inept until Marshall gave them a two-touchdown wake-up call.

There are two ways to look at that, of course.

The first is that if the Badgers are the 11th-ranked team in the nation, they should play like it and shouldn't be putting themselves in jeopardy against inferior opponents. The second is that this senior-dominated team has the ability to get knocked down but also to recover and throw a knockout punch of its own.

We don't know yet how good UW is, but if we've learned one thing about the Badgers after the — quote, unquote — easy portion of their schedule, it is this: They have a mental toughness about them, a confidence that allows them to keep playing in situations where lesser teams might panic or even fold.

"I like the chemistry of this football team," Bielema said. "It's been tested two different times now and they've responded positively both weeks."

The Badgers were shockingly flat in falling behind Marshall 14-0. They had six penalties in the first quarter. Their running game, which rolled up more than 400 yards against Akron, was going nowhere. First-year UW quarterback Allan Evridge was 0-for-4 passing. Quarterback Mark Cann and Marshall were mystifying UW's defense with yet another no-huddle spread.

But the Badgers responded brilliantly to the adversity, even if much of it was self-inflicted.

"I was talking with my dad last night about how there's just a little bit different feel this year and today was one (example)," defensive tackle Mike Newkirk said. "I was on the sidelines and we were down 14-0, but there was really never any panic. There were never any bad thoughts like we were going to lose or anything like that. It was just, 'Stay calm, stay poised, keep getting after it and good things will come.' "

Good things did come for the Badgers, who dominated Marshall in the final three quarters. Evridge lit up the Herd through the air, easing any fears that he couldn't win a game with his arm. The defense started pressuring Cann into quick throws and the Badgers intercepted three of them.

Afterward, some of the Badgers expressed lingering concerns about inconsistent pass coverage and not being able to run the ball like they had the week before but, true to character, no one was worried. Indeed, they liked the scares they received in their two games.

"I think that's a good sign," linebacker DeAndre Levy said. "It builds character for us for later in the season when things get really rough."

Later in the season? Uh, try right now, DeAndre. Starting with Saturday's road game against a ranked Fresno State team in front of its rough-and-ready fans, UW's degree of difficulty will increase exponentially in its next seven games.

If the Badgers start out against Fresno State like they did against Marshall, all the chemistry in the world won't help them recover.

"Obviously, we can control some of those things early on, some of the miscues, penalties, all of the things that contributed to us having the start that we did," Bielema said. "We settled down on the sidelines, had a few spirited conversations and put our guys back on the right track. To walk off that field after scoring 51 straight points without giving up any, it makes you want to just pack up your bags and head to Fresno and keep playing."

Unfortunately, the Badgers will have to hold that thought for a week. It will be interesting to see if they can.