Anthony Davis/Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Wisconsin junior running back Anthony Davis has amassed 402 yards and two touchdowns in four games this season, despite a rough outing against Northern Illinois.

The good news for Arizona fans is Wisconsin running back Anthony Davis had a bad outing Saturday against Northern Illinois.

Running for only 49 yards on 14 carries against Northern Illinois, the sophomore had arguably the least-impressive performance of his career, and it almost cost the Badgers the game.

The bad news is that he can't be counted on to repeat last week's performance against the Wildcats on Saturday.

During his freshman campaign last season, Davis led the Big Ten with 1466 yards on the ground, good for fifth in the nation.

He was a consensus pick as the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year and was a first-team All-Conference selection. Davis also broke Tony Dorsett's record of 100-yard games in a freshman season with 10.

Such performances from running backs is nothing new to the Wisconsin program. Davis is the latest in an impressive line of Badger running backs in recent years, including Heisman winner Ron Dayne and Michael Bennett, both of whom are now playing on Sundays.

This season, Davis is expected to be an integral part of a team looking to rebound from last years 5-7 record.

He got off to a good start by lighting up the Fresno State defense, rushing for 184 yards on 36 carries en route to a 23-21 victory.

But over the next three games, he only gained 205 yards and in the Badgers most recent game he only carried 14 times, as Wisconsin spent much of the second half mounting a comeback.

In fact, it was the game against Northern Illinois that exposed Davis' weakness as a pass-catcher.

"Anthony doesn't have (the) hands to put him out as a wide receiver or as a check down back or whatever," Badgers head coach Barry Alvarez said.

Davis has also been facing a predicament similar to that of Arizona's standout tailback, Clarence Farmer. Both have been facing teams gearing up to stop the run, often stacking the box with eight to nine defenders.

Alvarez, while admitting it's partly his responsibility to loosen up opposing defenses by spreading the offense a little more, also said Davis hasn't been as sharp as normal the past few games.

"I have seen times when there have not been holes, (but) I have seen times when he has been impatient and made cuts before the read has actually shown up. Or he has jumped outside when there is actually something inside. But things happen so fast and so much of it is intuitive and getting reps and seeing it," Alvarez said.

Nevertheless, Davis will be a handful for the Wildcats Saturday in Madison. It will be the first big test for the defense that held Utah to 43 yards on the ground.

Davis and the Badger's offensive line form one of the most formidable rushing attacks in the country, putting the pressure on the Arizona defense to stop the ground attack or suffer the consequences.

Mackovic, for one, knows that won't be easy.

"They have built their game plan around · a hard, tough running game. They have played well against all kinds of teams. (And) they are going to be as big or bigger than we are," Mackovic said.