Javan Robinson was the missing ingredient for a once depleted Wisconsin secondary

By now, most Wisconsin Badgers fans have become accustomed to the name “Javan Robinson,” as following his stellar performance against Penn State, he has become a bit of a household name among the fan base. Robinson, a highly touted transfer from Arizona State, has lived up to his preseason hype thus far, despite taking a very aggressive approach to the position.

In his most recent matchup against the aforementioned Penn State Nittany Lions, Robinson was targeted a whopping 10 times in coverage. In spite of the hefty target share, he allowed just two catches for nine yards — breaking up three passes in the process.

Amid those three passes were two crucial plays down the stretch, saving what could have been game-definingtouchdowns. Nonetheless, he got the job done — and it wasn't a fluke in how he did it either.

When asked how he was able to make those plays, Robinson gave a fairly straightforward yet strong answer.

“When stuff like that happens, just resort back to your training,” Robinson said. “All the risk you take in practice, like all that stuff, it's just another day of practice for me.”

What makes it work?

In an era of college sports where turning talent has become more prevalent than ever, having a guy like Robinson on the roster who has experience holding down a secondary at the Power Four level is all the more beneficial. But sometimes, for a corner at least, things can get lonely.

Defensive back is one of the only positions in football where it truly is you versus your man. Sometimes, players in that role will get caught up trying to chase big plays in order to make their impact felt on the game. Robinson, however, has trust in his guys and knows that so long as he does his job, they will do theirs.

“Knowing that everyone's going to do their 111, going to do their job and we just feed off of that,” Robinson said. “We go out there and just, you know, do what the defense and what our coaches ask us to do.”

In short, the Badgers have their guy. One of the biggest gripes amid the struggles of the Luke Fickell era has been the lackluster secondary play, making the emergence of a true stud — such as Robinson — all the more exciting for the direction the program is heading.

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