UW entered the game hitting the grand slam of defense. It ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense, total defense, rushing defense and pass-efficiency defense. And its 11 takeaways put it near the top in that category, too.

"Everybody's hungry, everybody wants a piece," Orr said. "We talk about being a dominant defense and everybody wants a piece of that. Everybody wants a piece of the quarterback. Everybody wants a piece of a turnover. Everybody wants to make the play. I think that's the biggest difference. And nobody's going outside of themselves. Nobody's going outside of the scheme to do that. They're just making the plays when they present themselves."

Indeed, big plays are coming from all over. So far, nine players have sacks, seven have forced fumbles, five have interceptions and five have recovered fumbles.

The pass-rushers have had 14 sacks in the last two games, but the secret might be the run defense. It has stuffed opponents early and forced them into long down-and-distance situations. Kent State was 2-for-11 on third-down conversions, making UW's opponents 11-for-69 this season, a remarkably low 15.9 percent.