It's understandable if Joe and Jane Fan cringe at the idea of paying $39 on consecutive Saturdays to watch the University of Wisconsin football team open the season with nonconference games against Akron and Marshall, considered by Sports Illustrated to be the sixth- and fifth-worst teams in the country.

But at least acknowledge that starting with a pair of dress rehearsals makes sense for the Badgers before they begin a difficult stretch that includes games against Fresno State, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan State.

This is why you open the season against Akron: So you can sink to the opponent's level for nearly an entire quarter yet still walk away with a comfortable, 38-17 victory.

Sure, the margin of victory could have been 49 if the Badgers hadn't played dead in the red zone during the second quarter Saturday, but look at it this way: Any adversity UW faces during these first two games should pay dividends for the Badgers when they enter the aforementioned stretch of seven games that will define its season.

"I think we're a good football team that can move forward if we just have big ears and the coaches do what they're supposed to do," UW coach Bret Bielema said.

As good as the Badgers were for the better parts of three quarters against the Zips, Bielema's coaching staff has plenty of material from that miserable second quarter alone to use as teaching points.

Offensive coordinator Paul Chryst will no doubt voice his displeasure about consecutive drives in the quarter that produced just three points despite three trips to the red zone.

UW settled for a field goal on the first when David Gilreath couldn't hold on to a pass in the end zone on a third-down play.

P.J. Hill fumbled on the 1-yard line on the next drive and the ball squirted through the end zone for a touchback, the only blemish during a 210-yard, two-touchdown performance for the junior tailback.

And senior quarterback Allan Evridge capped off the trifecta of red zone blunders by throwing an interception in the end zone on an ill-advised and poorly thrown pass intended for Gilreath.

"The smart thing to do would just be heave it out of the back of the end zone, but I tried to put it up there," said Evridge, who attempted just 10 passes on the day. "You learn from it. You can't do that, it's costly."

The defense played well for the most part in coordinator Dave Doeren's first game in charge, although the Badgers still looked lost at times against the spread.

The Zips moved the ball 72 yards in 10 plays -- with three plays of 12 yards or longer -- during a touchdown drive that cut UW's lead to 17-7 early in the second quarter. A few other times, Akron receivers were open behind the UW secondary, but the Badgers escaped unscathed because the passes were overthrown.

"You try to learn as much as you can," said senior cornerback Allen Langford, in his first game back after reconstructive knee surgery. "You try to see where you're at. You can definitely see that we're a great team. But there's a lot more work to do, especially on the defensive side of the ball."