When it came time for Wisconsin to step up and claim a victory Saturday, they found themselves lethargic, disheartened and unable to rise to the occasion.

Appearing as a team that expected their national ranking to win a game all by itself, the Badgers failed to execute the small things and left Evanston disappointed.

“We never really could establish anything,” head coach Barry Alvarez said. “Offensively we couldn’t put anything together consistently; defensively we missed a lot of tackles. We just didn’t play very well.”

Northwestern, on the other hand, provided a game plan that resulted in UW’s worst performance of the season in its 16-7 victory. The Badgers did not execute well on any level and the competitive edge provided by a more heralded football program was quickly evaporated by energetic ambition and a desire to win.

“We didn’t block, we didn’t run, we didn’t execute anywhere near the level of efficiency that you need to execute at to win,” offensive coordinator Brian White said.

The Badgers’ success rate on third down was a mere 31 percent (5-16) against a Wildcat defense that had given up first downs at a 45 percent rate in 2003. Second down passing plays from quarterback Matt Schabert often resulted in third down and long for the Badgers. When forced to throw, Wisconsin could not simply produce.

“We just couldn’t convert as many times as we needed to on third down,” White said. [We] certainly had some redzone opportunities that you need to score touchdowns [on] and not set on three [points].”

The Badgers entered the Wildcats’ redzone three times but emerged with only one score as a penalty and sack ended the other opportunities. The inability to put points on the board and the offensive line’s inability to protect Schabert or to open holes for the running game proved too costly for UW.

“We never did establish the running game,” Alvarez said. “That’s one thing that I felt was important in this game with the new quarterback. I didn’t want to put it all on Schabert’s shoulders; I wanted to be able to establish a running game, and we didn’t.”

With Anthony Davis out due to a recurring ankle injury, coach White appeared to hinge the UW offense on the arm of his junior quarterback. Matt Schabert threw the ball 36 times on the afternoon and was moderately productive in his 193-yard output. The difference in the game may have been the apparent tailored play calling by White in what looked like designed patterns to avoid a big Schabert mishap. The Badgers took very few shots up the field or over the middle and instead relied on out patterns and quarterback draws to see them through the game.

The Badgers’ running game just wasn’t there. Although Davis appeared to be on the right track before being injured, a depleted UW running attack mustered only 140 yards. Schabert ended the game as the team’s leading rusher with 57 yards and the Badger offense gave punter R.J. Morse a serious workout.

Punting the ball eight times with an average distance of over 40 yards, Morse had a good game on paper, but his failure to kick to coverage and to down the ball inside of the 20-yard line hurt his team in the field position game. Morse netted 23 and 21 yards on his first two punts of the day and downed just one punt inside the 20 compared with three touchbacks.

But Morse was by no means the only kicker that did not execute well against Northwestern. Inheriting the placekicking duties from an injured Mike Allen, who did not make the trip to Northwestern, Scott Campbell was only able to split the goal posts once in three opportunities. His extra point in the second quarter did give UW its only lead of the game, but a 36-yard missed field goal attempt in that same quarter and a missed 40-yard attempt early in the fourth quarter had a much greater impact on the outcome of the game.

“I’d like to be able to kick a field goal,” White said. “It’s frustrating when you move the ball down [the field] in a tough defensive game and you can’t capitalize. It’s very frustrating. It’s frustrating for the guys on the field, it’s very unsettling for coaches as far as making the decision when you get back down there again, do you try it, do you go for it, roll the dice or do you just try to go for it on 4th down.”

The Badgers failed to execute the intricacies of their game plan and were out-coached, out-played and out-hustled on nearly every down. When the Badgers were given opportunities they squandered them. They played as though they would be given the win just because they were the better team but found out exactly why games are played.

“This one’s really tough,” senior wide receiver Lee Evans said. “Sometimes you can accept a loss, but we didn’t play our style of football. We didn’t play up to the capabilities that we have, especially offensively, and dealing with that is one of the things that hurts.”