ROSE BOWL / DAILY REPORT

John Palermo, Wisconsin’s assistant head coach and defensive line coach, was barking constantly Saturday as the Badgers went through their first full-scale Rose Bowl practice at the Coliseum. No one seemed to be quick enough or carry out his assignment well enough to satisfy Palermo, whose tirades echoed throughout the empty stadium.

“We don’t take that as yelling. We take that as motivation,” said all-America defensive end Tom Burke, a senior who led the nation with 30 tackles for loss and 21 quarterback sacks. “He’s a great motivator.”

Palermo’s badgering apparently worked this season. Wisconsin led the nation with a 10.2 scoring defense average, ranked third in rushing defense (89.6 yards per game), seventh in pass efficiency defense (97.7 yards) and fifth in total defense (270.3 yards). However, stopping UCLA--with its prolific offense and trick plays--looms as a major challenge.

In addition, UCLA quarterback Cade McNown will be the first left-hander Burke has faced, so Burke--coming from the left end--will be coming toward McNown’s back.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Burke said. “But he’s good. He’s got eyes in the back of his head.”

Burke also said the Badgers won’t change their approach against a team that can do so many different things offensively.

“You have to come in and play basic football,” he said. “Come in and stop the run, set back for the pass. Everybody has a responsibility, a gap, a man to cover. As long as everybody sticks with what they’re supposed to do, the trick plays won’t work.”

Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez said he’s impressed with UCLA’s depth at skill positions and its inventive offense, especially McNown.

“You really have to prepare for everything,” Alvarez said. “They have a lot of what we call explosives, plays that go over 25 yards. We certainly have our work cut out for us with that offense. . . . Looking at films, the thing that surprised me about [McNown] is how well he moves. As a total quarterback, we haven’t seen anyone as good as him. If he’s not the best in the country, he’s in the top five.”

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Alvarez said Saturday’s long workout gave him time to begin introducing wrinkles in his game plan that are tailored to UCLA. The Badgers’ last game was on Nov. 21 and they have practiced only sporadically since then.

“We wanted to bang around today, get physical,” he said. “We had [starters against starters] and we did the inside run live, the third and five live and one other situation where we went live against one another. We wanted to get the speed and tempo of a game back and we wanted guys to get the feeling of a game.

“I anticipated we’d be sluggish after the long plane ride [Friday] and we were. As practice went on, we got better.”