As nightmarish as last season was for everyone remotely connected to the Penn State football team, the Nittany Lion's 16-3 loss to Wisconsin last Sept. 25 may have been the low point.

Especially for quarterback Michael Robinson.

Robinson came into relieve Zack Mills after the senior separated his shoulder on his first and only offensive snap of the game, but left the field in an ambulance after an absolutely viscous helmet-to-helmet hit by Erasmus James in the first quarter.

Robinson sustained a scary concussion, and James went on to be picked No. 18 in the NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

But Robinson said he harbors no ill will against Wisconsin and that he will not be out for revenge when the Lions take on the Badgers tomorrow.

"Nah. There's no revenge factor," Robinson said.

"They were playing great defense last year. This is a totally different team this year. In some ways they're different, in some ways they're not."

Unfortunately for Badgers coach Barry Alvarez, the main way that things are different this year is that Wisconsin's defense is not all that good.

The Badgers returned only four starters on defense from last year's team that finished 9-3 and third in the Big Ten. Of the seven that departed, five were picked in the 2005 NFL draft.

Among those five, four made up Wisconsin's entire starting defensive line in 2004.

The inexperience has showed this fall, and, despite Wisconsin's excellent record, the Badgers' high-powered offense has had to bail out their defensive counterparts on numerous occasions.

The losses on the defensive line have been particularly damaging. Wisconsin currently ranks 90th in the NCAA in rush defense below teams like Syracuse (1-7) and Temple (0-9).

In a come-from-behind victory over Minnesota on Oct. 15, the Badgers allowed Golden Gophers tailback Laurence Maroney to run 43 times for 262 yards in addition to allowing 139 yards on 19 carries to Maroney's backup, Gary Russell.

It doesn't get too much better for Wisconsin when opposing teams air it out either -- the Badgers rank 93rd in the country defending the pass, and allowed Omar Jacobs of Bowling Green to throw for 458 yards and five touchdowns in a wild 56-42 victory in the opening week of the season.

Those statistics only add fuel to the fire for a Penn State offense that is anxious to atone for its dreadful performance last year and for Robinson's potentially disastrous injury.

"I think how we played last year as an offense is what bothered me the most; we had some good opportunities," center E.Z. Smith said. "Zack and Michael both took some big shots and obviously as an offensive lineman you don't like to see that."

Talk about the hit that James put on Robinson last year varied this week, and both players and coaches seemed hesitant to really talk about whether or not the hit was clean.

"Did it bother me?" linebacker Paul Posluszny said. "Mike is my good friend, but it's a part of football, though. It happens."

Penn State coach Joe Paterno spoke less charitably of the hit, but still in vague terms.

"I hope the referees, the officials will make sure that doesn't happen because one or two of the shots last year were very dubious as to whether they were legal," Paterno said. "But I don't know. Wisconsin plays good, tough football, and if you want to play in this league and you want to be a good quarterback, you have to bounce back when somebody gives you a good shot, and I think Michael has done that."