IOWA CITY, Iowa — They’ve been their own worst enemy for weeks. Saturday was no different.

During Wisconsin’s current four-game losing streak, the Badgers have committed a plethora of costly penalties and mental errors that have both killed momentum on drives and kept opponents on the move. Against Iowa, Wisconsin committed seven total penalties, including a third-quarter “roughing the passer” call on senior linebacker Jonathan Casillas that seemed to kill the Badgers’ hopes of an eventual comeback. The Hawkeyes would later score on the drive.

“So, instead of having a second-and-10 and playing behind the chains, [they] have a first-and-10 with plus-15 (yards) and created some negative energy,” UW head coach Bret Bielema said. “A couple plays later, we get hit on a blitz right up the middle that went for a touchdown.”

For the fourth straight game, the Badgers also committed an “illegal formation” penalty.

“We’re seven games into [the season], and we’re still lining up in the wrong formations,” starting quarterback Dustin Sherer said. “It’s inexcusable.”

And it’s getting contagious.

“As soon as one negative thing happened, it was just a spiral effect into a couple different areas in the game,” Bielema said.

Frustrated would be an understatement.

“I don’t care if we line up in one formation [for an] entire half,” Bielema continued. “I don’t want people misaligned; I don’t want people having confusion at the line of scrimmage.”

Communication was an issue Saturday, too. The Badgers took the field with only 10 players on defense to start the second half. Defensive end O’Brien Schofield ran onto the field as the ball was snapped.

“(Defensive line) coach (Charles) Partridge told me I was ‘out on base,'” Schofield explained. “He was saying that I was out there on base, and I thought he was saying I was out.

“It was my fault.”

Later in the third quarter, freshman cornerback Niles Brinkley ran onto the field late on special teams, too.

“Niles Brinkley, because of the injury to Mario (Goins), was supposed to be out there on punt return on two different occasions,” Bielema said. “All of a sudden, he’s over on the bench. Yes, that is coaching to get the guy out there, but for a player to not have the retention to know that he’s on a special teams unit is absurd.”

Basically, there’s an organizational issue on this football team.

“They can say it’s the coaches’ fault, but it’s about the 11 guys out on the field,” senior guard Andy Kemp said. “We made dumb mistakes that we’ve been working on for the past few weeks.

It’s the little things that count, and that’s what hurt us in this game.”

Currently sitting in last place in the Big Ten, Bielema continues to search for answers.

“We’re going to take a very critical look at what we’re doing,” Bielema said. “We’ll get as simple as we need to get because we need to get better at something because right now, we’re not very good at all areas in the game. The team that’s beating Wisconsin the most is Wisconsin.

“I’m responsible for everything that goes on out there.”