Saturday night, in quite possibly the cruelest way possible, the nation discovered what perhaps we should’ve known all along – the Wisconsin Badgers are not perfect.
Russell Wilson, heroic as he almost was Saturday night (and boy, was he close), is not perfect. Bret Bielema, confident and calculated as he has been this season, is not perfect. UW’s special teams unit, improved as it has been so far in 2011, is not perfect.
Once Michigan State wide receiver Keith Nichol caught that once-in-a-lifetime deflection and scored the game-winning touchdown, Wisconsin was struck by the football equivalent of a harsh kick to the groin. Immediate instincts conjured memories of last year’s misery in East Lansing, a 34-24 affair in the Big Ten opener that seemed to smack a dent in Wisconsin’s BCS bowl hopes.
But even aside from the fact that UW ultimately rebounded to reach the Rose Bowl, this year’s loss hurt more – much more. Wilson’s Heisman Trophy hopes went from brimming with life to being placed on life support (though they’re not dead yet), and Wisconsin’s national title hopes were dashed (those, however, are in fact dead).
Critics will target Wilson’s two interceptions as the principal reasons the Badgers lost, but they’ll likely overlook how close he was in atoning for his mistakes and bringing his team back.
Regardless, this one was a team effort, and as clich? and over-cooked as it sounds, it will be the team’s effort over the next five games that determines what really matters at the end of the season.
Wilson’s zero-to-near-hero effort was too uneven to give Wisconsin the win Saturday night, but it was far from the only reason the Badgers lost. The special teams unit – after showing marked improvement in the season’s first six games following an inconsistent effort in 2010 – allowed one costly blocked field goal and an absolutely brutal blocked punt. The latter bounced 36 yards back toward the Badgers’ goal line, whereupon several Spartan defenders pounced on the football to extend Michigan State’s lead to 23-14 with barely a minute left until halftime.
Deficits that extend into the second half always provide obstacles that are arduous to overcome, but the Badgers rebounded from their abominable second quarter and ultimately found themselves tied 31-31 with 1:26 remaining in the game.
Alas, it wasn’t all the special teams’ fault. Bielema’s usage of Wisconsin’s three second-half timeouts in the fourth quarter drew the ire of many Badger fans following the game, and perhaps they were justified. All three were called on the Spartans’ final drive, and the first came after defensive end Brendan Kelly sacked MSU quarterback Kirk Cousins with 42 seconds to go (Kelly also caused a fumble on the play, though Michigan State recovered the football). The second generated the most controversy, as after a 12-yard completion from Cousins to wide receiver B.J. Cunningham, Bielema called another timeout, electing to give his team a chance to win or get to overtime.
“What we wanted to do is get the ball back,” Bielema said in explanation of calling the timeout. “If we got the ball back with less than 30 seconds or somewhere around there, we were going to go for the block just because we thought we’d have to use the last timeout to get the punt team out there or to stop the clock. Obviously, they converted and had the opportunities there at the end. We were going for the win.”
Well, following the timeout, Cousins completed two more passes for a combined 20 yards that brought Michigan State to Wisconsin’s 44-yard line with 10 seconds remaining. The Spartans called a timeout, and after an incompletion, Bielema called his last timeout. From there, the rest really was history.
Ultimately, it all boils down to the fact that Wisconsin ultimately suffered, I would say, one of the top five most brutal losses of all-time. They stormed out of the gates in the first quarter, relinquished the lead in the second, drew closer in the third and gave back the momentum in the fourth before throwing everything to the wind with a raucous two-touchdown comeback. Then, they lost, and that play doesn’t need much retelling.
Fortunately – and don’t lose sight of this, Badger fans – Wisconsin still very much controls its own destiny. Win out (and that’s pretty manageable, assuming Ohio State doesn’t drastically address all 278,456,568 of its issues before Saturday night) and Wisconsin has a tremendous opportunity to reach the inaugural Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis – where they very well could get a rematch with Michigan State.
As painful as this one was, no individual player or unit can be blamed. Just as the whole Wisconsin team lost this one, all three phases of its game will recover if the Badgers are indeed bound for postseason glory. Feel free to grieve this week, but remember – Bucky’s still in the driver’s seat.
Mike is a senior majoring in journalism. What did you take away from Saturday night? Let him know on Twitter @mikefiammetta and be sure to follow @BHeraldSports for all the latest Badgers news.
