MADISON, Wis.-Deonte Gibson doesn't get the attention he deserves. Even after leading Northwestern in sacks in on Saturday, Gibson didn't get the full credit he was due.

The 6-foot-3, 280-pounder had three of Northwestern's six sacks in the No. 20 Wildcats' dramatic 13-7 win over No. 25 Wisconsin on Saturday, yet he was credited with only two in the official box score distributed to the media after the game.

Why? Because one was attributed to Warren Long, who also wears Gibson's jersey number, 13. Never mind that Long is a running back who has lined up on defense as many times as school president Morty Schapiro this season. (The error was eventually corrected.)

Then, in the post-game press conference, one reporter addressed Gibson as "Anthony," mistaking the defensive end for standout linebacker Anthony Walker.

You'd think that the redshirt senior defensive end who is leading the No. 9 scoring defense in the country in sacks with nine would get a little more recognition. Yet it's his bookend counterpart on the other side, Dean Lowry, who gets most of the attention -- and for good reason, as Lowry is in the midst of an All-Big Ten-caliber season.

But on Saturday, it was Gibson's star that shined brightest. His three sacks of Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave were among his four tackles behind the line of scrimmage that accounted for 25 yards in losses. His first sack came on the first drive of the game and his last, and most important one came on Wisconsin's last possession.

Wisconsin, which had mounted one drive of more than 28 yards all afternoon and turned the ball over five times, was suddenly at Northwestern's 1-yard line with less than a minute to go, trailing by just six. Stave had hit Troy Fumagalli for a 22-yard pass to put the Badgers on the brink of victory. (The pass was initially ruled a touchdown but rightfully overturned when it was determined his knee touched down before he crossed the goal line.)

Then, on first down, Stave threw a pass to Jazz Peavy that will draw more complaints in Madison than the return of Prohibition. Despite cradling the ball, taking three steps and landing an elbow in bounds, the referees overturned their initial touchdown call, ruling that Peavy did not maintain possession and complete the process of the catch. The ball appeared to get jostled when Peavy landed, but the Wisconsin faithful disagreed, showing their displeasure by raining boos and snowballs down on the officials.

After that mess was sorted out, Gibson came up with his play. Breaking through the middle on a stunt, he wrapped up Stave and crumpled him to the turf for a 10-yard loss.

"When a quarterback is a great pocket passer, you've got to make him move his feet a little bit," Gibson said after the game. "So I made an inside move and he hesitated, and I was able to grab a hold of him."

Suddenly, Wisconsin faced a third-and-goal from the 11, not the 1, and Stave was knocked out of the game with an injury that made him wobble around in the backfield while alert running back Corey Clement spiked the ball with six seconds left.

Backup quarterback Bart Houston's fourth-down pass attempt was broken up by Matthew Harris and Northwestern had its fourth win in a row and ninth of the season.

Not that Gibson even knew that his hit had forced Stave to the sideline.

"I didn't know that Stave came out until I got to the locker room, that something had happened to him," he said with a smile.

It wasn't just Gibson who made life miserable for Stave, however. It was a team effort for a front four that dominated the line of scrimmage. Tyler Lancaster had one sack and a forced fumble, Lowry and Ifeadi Odenigbo split one, and one went to the team. Odenigbo also had two quarterback hurries.

Lowry credited defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz's scheme for the success of the pass rush, saying that the Wildcats blitzed a lot in the first half but played more straight-up in the second. That mix kept the Badgers' offensive line off balance.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald was happy with the pressure his team put on Stave all day.

"Outstanding, just outstanding," Fitzgerald said about the six sacks. "We were close on a couple other ones, too. Those guys have been great all year."

Gibson, who said that "we just wanted to prove to Wisconsin, the rest of the nation and the Big Ten that we were a great defense," wouldn't put the spotlight solely on himself for those three sacks. He had a lot of success speed rushing off the edge, and he gave credit to defensive tackles Lancaster, Greg Kuhar, C.J. Robbins, Max Chapman and Jordan Thompson for allowing that to happen.

"Again, you can't rush on the outside without great interior linemen, so shout out to the DTs," said Gibson, who now stands seventh all-time at Northwestern with 15 career sacks. "They don't get no love, so I always shout them out."

Someone should shout more about Gibson, too.