MADISON, Wis. — Alabama’s defense bucked up on the road.

The Crimson Tide’s offense didn’t have the methodical drives many fans might have hoped to see in its 42-10 win over Wisconsin on Saturday. But Alabama’s reliance on explosive plays worked for yet another week thanks to another stalwart performance on the other side of the ball.

Wisconsin was limited in its offensive attack after starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke went down with a leg injury in the first quarter. However, the Badgers still took a 3-0 lead to start the game and were looking to add to it before Deontae Lawson burst through Wisconsin’s offensive line to bring down running back Tawee Walker on a 4th-and-1 attempt on the Alabama 48-yard line.

Later in the half, Wisconsin went on an 11-play drive, gaining some rhythm behind backup quarterback Braedyn Locke and getting into field goal range. That was as far as the Badgers would get against Alabama’s bend-but-don’t-break defense, however. Alabama forced two incompletions and Wisconsin missed a 45-yard field goal try.

Instead of possible points for the Badgers in both scenarios, Alabama’s defense set up the offense for drives of four and two plays that ended in touchdowns. The scores gave Alabama an insurmountable 21-3 lead heading into halftime.

“Team football,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said in his postgame press conference. “Getting the takeaways, putting points on the board when we got the ball back, getting a stop on fourth down and scoring. Forcing a field goal at the end of the half and the offense responded with a quick drive, and I think coming back in the third quarter, too, those are big swings of momentum.”

Alabama’s defense continued to create momentum for the offense by creating turnovers which was a point of emphasis for the team this week. Alabama did not force a turnover against South Florida, prompting Kane Wommack to express his disappointment in the defense and put in more turnover circuits during Alabama’s practices this week.

Wommack’s message was received by his unit. The Tide forced four fumbles, recovering two of them. Both recoveries set up Alabama within the Wisconsin 30-yard line and ended in short drive touchdowns for the offense.

“We took it really personally,” Alabama defensive lineman LT Overton said. “We feel like we’re a really good defense and we proved that you have to have takeaways. So we just stepped up our gameplan on takeaways, making that a primary focus and that’s just what happened.”

While Overton forced a fumble himself that was pounced on by the Badgers, a pair of veteran Alabama defenders who created both of the Tide’s takeaways Saturday. Fifth-year safety Malachi Moore popped the ball out of Wisconsin running back Chez Mellusi’s hands the second quarter, which set Alabama up on Wisconsin’s 28-yard line. Jalen Milroe finished off the drive with a three-yard rushing touchdown.

Late in the third quarter, linebacker Deontae Lawson stripped Badgers running back Cade Yacamelli and Alabama recovered the fumble on the Badgers 17-yard line. Again Milroe helped Alabama capitalize with a 10-yard rush.

"Those guys are playing aggressive, playing confident and [turnovers] are gonna come in bunches," DeBoer said. "And I feel like we're just still at the tip of that iceberg of what we can do when it comes to taking the ball away."

Moore and Lawson’s contributions went beyond forcing fumbles. Both vets stepped up and performed well during the Tide’s first true road test. Moore left the game in the third quarter with a head injury but still finished with seven tackles, including 0.5 for loss. Lawson finished with seven tackles and a pass breakup to go along with the forced fumble.

“It feels great seeing a leader step up because that just makes all the young guys want to eat too,” Overton said. “And then them being on your side telling you what to do, especially them hyping you up too, that makes it an even bigger impact on the whole team.”

The Crimson Tide’s offensive performance wasn’t flawless Saturday. Despite his five touchdowns, Milroe missed on some easy throws early and Alabama only had three drives last more than five plays. The defense, however, continued to take pride in setting the Tide’s offense up in advantageous positions and making life easier for the offense. In its first big test of the season, Alabama embraced the challenge of forcing more takeaways, and the offense made the most of those generated opportunities.

“The defense, they always play a great game, they always put us in situations to where we can capitalize,” Wide receiver Germie Bernard said. “They call themselves ‘Swarm D’ for a reason and when they create takeaways, we as an offense have to capitalize on that, and I think we did a good job today on doing that.”