Newton's Third Law of Motion normally can be applied to spring football games: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

If the offense does well, it means the defense struggles. And vice versa.

But that didn't apply to the University of Wisconsin football team Saturday during the annual Cardinal-and-White scrimmage at Camp Randall Stadium.

It was a win-win day for the Badgers, despite the fact only two touchdowns were scored during the Cardinal's 28-3 victory in front of a crowd estimated at 22,000.

The point totals included "rapid fire" field-goal competitions at the end of two quarters, which awarded a point for each made attempt.

The only touchdowns by the Cardinal were a 3-yard run by tailback Lance Smith late in the first half and a 20-yard touchdown pass from James Stallons to tight end Lance Kendricks in the fourth quarter.

If you were wondering how the defensive players would respond after a spring filled with a staggering number of injuries, you weren't alone.

"I didn't know how they were going to do," sophomore wide receiver David Gilreath said. "We've got some injuries, some first-time players out there."

Even Gilreath, who cemented his status as the best receiver in the spring with three receptions for 79 yards, had to hand it to the defensive players.

"They played tremendous," he said.

The concern among fans over the defensive injuries had risen to near panic levels after senior defensive end Matt Shaughnessy suffered a broken leg Thursday night in the final practice before the spring game.

Not only is the news positive on Shaughnessy — he broke the fibula, which is the non-weight bearing bone, and should be back in the fall — but it looks better than anticipated for the rest of the defense as well.

"That just goes to show how much depth the defense has now," said sophomore Niles Brinkley, who started at cornerback and had one of three interceptions. "It's good for the younger guys to get reps.

"It's not good for older guys to get injuries, but you give other people opportunities, you get to see what you've got on the team. Sometimes teams have to go through stuff like that, to know what the depth of the team is."

The two areas hit hardest by injuries are the defensive line and secondary.

Not only did Brinkley play well, but backup free safety Chris Maragos had an interception for the White team, picking off senior Allan Evridge on his second series. Maragos nearly had another one in the fourth quarter, making an acrobatic catch on the sidelines, but was ruled out of bounds.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Mario Goins broke up a pass intended for Daven Jones and strong safety Jay Valai made one of the most impressive plays in the game on the deflection, diving through the air for the other interception off White quarterback Scott Tolzien.

"I don't know how I did it," Valai said.

On the defensive line, redshirt freshman Louis Nzegwu got the chance to start with Shaughnessy out and finished with four tackles for loss.

There were enough positives on offense, too, including the running of redshirt freshman John Clay for the White team (19 carries, 90 yards) and quarterbacks Evridge and Dustin Sherer moving the ball, even though it mostly resulted in field goals.

As UW coach Bret Bielema noted after talking recently to some of his colleagues in the Big Ten Conference, "It's better to have them injured in the spring than in the fall."

Mostly, what the defense showed in the spring was the ability to persevere through all kinds of adversity.

"I think it shows a sign of toughness," senior linebacker DeAndre Levy said. "We're responsive. We were able to hold it together, despite missing so many guys. They drove down there a couple times, but the big thing is, we stopped them from scoring. I think that shows something."

As Valai noted, after a spring that featured "addition by subtraction," the return of all the injured players in the fall will be "addition plus addition."

His math might be fuzzy, but the sentiment is right on.

Having survived the spring, is there anything the defense will face in the fall that will be any worse?

"We just want to keep it going," Levy said. "The younger guys have experience now. It won't be new to them in the fall."