MADISON, Wis.  Facing fourth down, inches short of his own 22-yard line in the second quarter Saturday, Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez drew cheers from the packed Camp Randall Stadium crowd when he recalled his punter and went for it.

   This wasn''t a grandstand play. No, what it did was tell you more than a 1,000 voices about the University of Illinois football program.

   Coaches with 14-0 leads don''t risk fourth-down plays deep in their own territory unless there is no risk. In this case, the gambler was holding a pat hand.

   And what it says is Wisconsin linemen are bigger and stronger and can provide the push necessary to make the first down. Forging ahead behind 300 (and up) pounders, quarterback Mike Samuel lunged for 21/2 yards ... and the Badgers rolled merrily along toward a 31-7 victory.

   Alvarez''s only concern on the play was what to call because many would have worked. He could have dialed Ron Dayne''s number with similar confidence, or he could have thrown the ball up in the air and one of the taller Badgers probably would have caught it. Or he could have fumbled, and he''d have won the game anyway.

   Earlier, on fourth and 1 at the UI 29, the conspiring coaches, Alvarez and coordinator Brad Childress, caught Illinois bunching and blitzing in the hope of stopping Dayne. So Samuel ran outside on a keeper, found a vacant corner and rambled to the first touchdown on a gray, overcast day.

   Immediately after that score, Illinois used an Asim Pleas interception and Lenny Willis'' 9-yard reception to reach the Wisconsin 44. But with three downs to make a yard, Illinois couldn''t do it. And when Wisconsin knew Robert Holcombe almost certainly would be coming on fourth down, it wasn''t even close. Several Badgers swarmed Holcombe 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Short yardage is a nightmare

   What we''re seeing here is a season-long pattern. Illinois can''t make critical short-yardage plays and, conversely, can''t stop them.

   "It shows how far we have to come," UI head coach Ron Turner said. "That''s what I said when I saw the first film of the team. We have to get bigger and stronger to compete in this league. Wisconsin controlled the line of scrimmage, and we were nowhere close to being ready physically to compete.

   "On the fourth-down sneak by Wisconsin, they just knocked us off the ball. That tells you something about the confidence they had in that situation. I don''t consider it insulting, but it certainly shows the (lack of) respect they have for us. It shows where we are and where they are."

   Samuel said he wasn''t surprised at the call from the Wisconsin 22. Something very similar had happened during Dayne''s 289-yard destruction of Illinois a year ago. Why punt when a yard is virtually automatic?

   "With our offensive line and Ron, that makes it a lot easier," Samuel said. "The coaches obviously felt we could make it. I thought it was a good call."

Telltale signs come early

   There was a lot more to this game than fourth-down conversions.

   On just the fourth scrimmage play, Tim Lavery found George McDonald-Ashford open over the middle near midfield, but McDonald-Ashford dropped the ball. And, to compound a felony, young tackle Marques Sullivan was called for holding, and the Illini wound up punting from their own 20.

   That was the beginning of a long day.

   Once again the Illini were stung before halftime after rallying within 14-7. With just 2:12 on the clock, the Badgers roared 80 yards to score with 0:21 showing. And once again it was 5-foot-8 senior Trevor Starghill who was burned when 6-5 "home town boy" Don Hayes leaped over him in the end zone for the TD. That and a 66-yard run by Dayne after halftime allowed Badger fans to depart early.

   Referring to his TD lob to Hayes, Samuel said:

   "When I looked out that way, I saw the size advantage. I floated the ball out toward Donald, and he made an aggressive play. It gave us a lot of momentum going in."

   Lavery was a disappointing 11 for 31 with two interceptions and two others that were dropped by Badger defenders.

   "I don''t think Lavery played as well as he has," Turner said.

   Lavery has now completed just 37 of 103 passes.

   Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette.