The Wisconsin Badgers’ 2021 defense boasts the third-lowest defensive yards allowed per game total of any single-season college football defense since 2014, per ProFootballFocus.
The Badgers allowed only 239.7 yards per game in 2021, an impressive feat considering the shift towards more offensive-fueled systems in college football over the past decade.
Wisconsin registered a more proficient team defensive yardage mark than the 2023 Michigan Wolverines, 2015 Boston College Eagles, 2019 Ohio State Buckeyes and 2014 Clemson Tigers. The numbers go back to 2014, the first year of the College Football Playoff.
Paul Chryst led the 2021 Badgers to a 9-4 overall mark and a 6-3 conference record. Despite the winning record, the Badgers dropped contests to No. 19 Penn State, No. 112 Notre Dame and No. 14 Michigan in three of their first four contests. None of those losses, however, came due to poor play on the defensive side of the football.
Leaders in Defensive Yards Allowed Per Game Since 2014đź”’ pic.twitter.com/nssJQWB4oD
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 6, 2024
The Badgers countered with seven unanswered victories, including a 27-7 triumph over the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes and 30-13 win over the No. 25 Purdue Boilermakers.
Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard led the defensive group that season with future Super Bowl champion linebacker Leo Chenal as the team’s MVP. UW would go on to win the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl 20-13 over Arizona State.
Wisconsin’s 2021 defensive unit held its opponents to under 20 points in nine of its 13 bouts.
Starters on the unit included Keeanu Benton, Matt Henningsen, Isaiah Mullens, Jack Sanborn, Chenal, Nick Herbig, Noah Burks, Caesar Williams, Faion Hicks, Eric Burrell and Scott Nelson.
Benton, Henningsen, Sanborn, Chenal, Herbig, Hicks and Nelson all went on to play in the NFL in some capacity.