Some seven months removed from winning Offensive Player of the Year in the state of Wisconsin as a quarterback, Zack Baun lined up at inside linebacker early in his first Badger fall camp. Confused as to where he was supposed to go, Baun looked up to see 6-foot-3, 330-pound offensive guard Micah Kapoi pulling in his direction. Baun moved to engage without proper technique and quickly found himself on the ground, blood streaming from his nose.

“That kind of woke me up,” Baun told 247Sports. “That redshirt season kind of taught me how gritty you have to be to play in the trenches at Wisconsin."

Five years later that 6-foot-3, 205-pound high school quarterback checks in as a 235-pound outside linebacker and a centerpiece of the Badgers’ nation-best defense. Baun leads Wisconsin with 11 tackles for loss to go along with 6.5 sacks, 29 tackles and an interception. Like many Badger defenders, he's also scored a touchdown.

Wisconsin (6-1) leads college football in almost every major defensive category: Scoring defense (7.6 ppg), yards allowed per game (193.9) and yards allowed per play (3.43). For the year, Wisconsin’s defense has scored just three fewer touchdowns (4) than it’s allowed (7). The Badgers are the first defense since 1967 to post a quartet of shutouts in their first six games. This is the norm, too. Wisconsin’s churned out a Top 25 defense for seven of the last eight years.

Dominance at that rate is all the more impressive when you consider Wisconsin does so largely without elite recruits. Only two players from the Badgers’ starting 11 were four-star prospects. Wisconsin’s roster is stocked with identification and development victories of Baun's ilk. In fact, seven members of the Badgers’ two-deep were considered “athletes” or something else in high school from a recruiting perspective.

This approach is further magnified when you consider No. 13 Wisconsin’s opponent Saturday, No. 3 Ohio State (11 a.m., FOX). The Buckeyes enter the week No. 2 in yards allowed per play, the only other program nationally to allow less than four yards a snap. But the way Ohio State is built is in total contrast to Wisconsin. While the Badgers have just two four-star recruits in their starting 11, the Buckeyes can claim a trio of five-star recruits. Overall, Ohio State’s starting 11 defensively averages out to 293 overall in the 247Sports Composite rankings, equal to a four-star prospect. Wisconsin, meanwhile, would slot at 905, the equivalent of a mid-three-star recruit.

Saturday’s game is a clash of defensive heavyweights, but the way they’ve gone about roster construction could not be more opposing.

“A lot of programs they recruit high-level athletes right out of high school and expect them to play at an elite level right away,” Baun said. “(At Wisconsin) it’s all about development.”

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Redshirt freshman safety John Torchio remembers just “getting thrown in there.” A pair of targeting penalties in Wisconsin’s game with Michigan meant the Badgers’ lacked depth, so in came the walk-on. It didn’t take Torchio long to make an impact. The play called for Torchio, the boundary safety, to read the QB’s eyes. In this case, Joe Milton looked left and Torchio flowed with him. A few seconds later Milton hit Torchio in the numbers and Torchio had his first career interception.

“I kind of blacked out after that,” Torchio said.

Two years ago, as a high school senior in California, Torchio might’ve thrown that ball instead of picking it off. A two-star recruit, Torchio played quarterback and safety in high school. But his defensive work mostly involved being an athlete and making plays; he never worked on a backpedal until arriving in Madison. Torchio, whose oldest sister played soccer at Wisconsin, camped with the Badgers as a junior and liked Wisconsin so much he turned down a scholarship from California to walk-on in preferred fashion in Madison. Turns out, Wisconsin’s walk-on success travels a long way.

“I wanted to bet on myself,” Torchio said. “I loved the walk-on mentality. They don’t care if you’re a scholarship guy or a walk-on guy. They’re going to play the best guys.”

Torchio, who went on to earn his first career start against Northwestern, is part of a rich walk-on history that includes the Badgers defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. More of a walk-on than Torchio ever was – Leonhard arrived at Wisconsin without a offer to his name – Leonhard went on to be a three-time All-American.

Three years into his tenure as defensive coordinator, Leonhard’s built his defense on undervalued talent.

“We trust our philosophy and our approach,” Leonhard told reporters this week. “We know what this place is and who we are able to recruit. You’d love to be able to recruit everybody in the country, but the reality is you get told no a lot from some kids. We trust what we do. We trust our evaluations and who we are. We believe in that.”

There’s a process at Wisconsin, tried and true.

Baun grew up in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, a city with a population a tick shy of 12,000. The best athlete in his town, Brown Deer’s coaches funneled Baun to quarterback. Baun excelled but knew his long-term future would see him play elsewhere. When Wisconsin brought the in-state product on a visit, the Badgers pitched Baun on outside linebacker. They cued up film of All-American linebacker Joe Schobert – a former all-state running back from Waukesha, Wisconsin – who played a hybrid role in the team’s 3-4 system.

What did Wisconsin see in this skinny, three-star quarterback? Projectable traits. Baun had a frame that projected to add weight with ease. His 10.91 100-meter time in high school meant Baun had the requisite speed to be a pass-rush menace, and his open-field ability offensively showed Baun’s flexibility to bend around the edge and drop back in coverage. His time at quarterback, a mentally demanding role, helped show Baun could make the difficult transition.

Describing Wisconsin’s developmental process, Baun ticks off a few checkpoints: “They redshirt you, put you on special teams your second year. You learn from the older guys.” Baun’s path went exactly that way. Comfort at outside linebacker didn’t truly come until his redshirt sophomore season; his breakout came as a redshirt junior following an injury-shortened third year in the program.

Wisconsin’s defensive starting 11 features seven players with the distinction of an academic upperclassman. This is not to say everyone in the program waits to start. Starting nose tackle Bryson Williams started three games as a true freshman last season. But he’s more the exception than the rule. Of the Badgers’ 11 starting defenders, six redshirted at one point in their career.

“They maximize from a frame and schematic standpoint,” 247Sports Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong said. “They get these guys and they develop them physically and the scheme allows them to play at a high level.”

Creativity is also a necessary aspect of Wisconsin’s defensive consistency.

Not only do the Badgers find players like Baun and Torchio, they figure out where to put them. Baun’s first camp saw him play inside linebacker, outside linebacker and even defensive end. The Badgers’ roster-wide numbers aren’t huge – it’s easier to find walk-ons in Texas than Wisconsin – which leads to players getting exposed to different spots in fall camp.

That brings us to the other aspect of Wisconsin’s defensive recruiting formula: football intellect.

“I think it just goes back to the football IQ,” Torchio said. “If you have that they can definitely put you in different positions to make a play.”

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Can systematic development overcome overwhelming talent?

That’s the question that will, at least partially, be answered Saturday when the Badgers and Buckeyes meet. Lately, the answer’s been no. Ohio State’s won six straight in this series, including a pair of Big Ten championships. But it’s worth noting all but one of those victories – a 59-0 drubbing in 2014 – came by a single possession. Wisconsin’s held the Buckeyes in check defensively, holding them to 33 points or fewer in all but that 2014 Big Ten title game.

Asked earlier this week if he thought recruiting rankings matter, Leonhard hit on the portion of Wisconsin’s recruiting philosophy that’s for so long helped the Badgers close the gap.

“Four and five-star players tend to develop early,” Leonhard said. “You were on the radar for a long time. Those are the kids you look at and say, ‘You were born to play football.’ Does that win a game? No. There’s a lot of guys the mental piece of football, the stress, the amount that college athletes get put on their shoulder sometimes people don’t respond well to that. It doesn’t win games.”

Scheme, toughness and sound play tend to win in football. Wisconsin may not be as talented as many of their Top 25 foes, but the developmental system is a big reason Wisconsin's defense (and team) ranks in the Top 25 season after season.

“When you’re waiting your turn, so to speak, you’re looking at the older guys and how they handle things,” Baun said. “You’re learning from their technique and how they prepare. But the second part is learning the playbook. It takes a long time to really get a full grasp. By your junior and senior year, you really have a firm grasp of what the coaches are asking. That whole time you get to develop your body and your own play style.”