Coming off a tough loss to No. 4 Ohio State, Wisconsin football head coach Gary Andersen is looking forward to the upcoming bye week and getting his team ready to play Northwestern Oct. 12.
The unranked Badgers are now 3-2 (1-1 Big Ten) as they take a week to recouperate before arriving at the meat of the Big Ten conference schedule. At his weekly press conference Monday, Andersen showed no signs of disappointment in his team after they came up short in the 31-24 loss to the Buckeyes.
“The effort was unbelievable. These kids played hard, and it means a lot to them,” Andersen said.
Andersen was most impressed with the individual play of both redshirt senior wide receiver Jared Abbrederis and redshirt senior linebacker Chris Borland.
Abbrederis finished the game with 10 receptions for 207 yards receiving and one touchdown for the Badger offense while Borland finished with 16 tackles.
“There are a couple of performances that need to be noted for that game for the Badgers. They’re special in my opinion. Chris Borland and Jared Abbrederis were unbelievable,” Andersen said. “To play in that stage, that moment, that setting, and the way they played … they’re worthy of any award that they’re up for and hopefully people saw that on national television.”
Additionally Andersen expressed excitement with redshirt sophomore quarterback-turned-safety Tanner McEvoy, who displayed his athletic prowess on the defensive side of the ball tallying four tackles.
“We needed to get some athletes on the field,” Andersen said. “We thought it would give us an opportunity to get us as big and as long and as fast as we could in the back end.”
Andersen also expressed his regret with missed opportunities in the game, including the fourth-quarter punt that was fumbled and recovered by the Badgers, but called back when officials saw a line of scrimmage infraction by the special teams crew.
“We did not take enough advantage of these opportunities that came our way,” Andersen said.
This week’s break in the action should prove beneficial for the Badgers as they will have ample time to review their loss to the Buckeyes and prepare for their upcoming game against the Wildcats. The season is far from over and Andersen said he wants his team to recognize that.
“The message for them is to respect the process. Understand that we are three and two. I get it, they know where we’re at. It’s not what we wanted at the beginning, but if they can just keep on battling, and keep on fighting, I think they’re a very talented football team,” Andersen said. “We’ll learn from these situations, we’ll bring them up, we’ll accept responsibility as coaches and as players and move ourselves onto the next game, and we’re excited about that opportunity.”
Northwestern is ranked No.16 in the nation and will prove to be a great test for the Badgers. The Wildcats will play Ohio State at home on Oct. 5, giving Andersen and the Badgers a great opportunity to compare themselves to the Wildcats before the teams square off at Camp Randall.
Looking forward, Andersen plans to run practice as usual this week with standard procedures and plenty of time for the players to recuperate.
“We’ll get two-and-a-half normal practices on Northwestern and a whole bunch of film watching. So we should be well prepared when we walk back in here on Monday morning for the Northwestern team,” Andersen stated.
Despite the loss to Ohio State, heads are still held high as Andersen and his team look to bounce back against a worthy opponent in Northwestern. The stage is set and the Badgers should be ready with two full weeks of practice ahead.
“I’m proud of these kids. I’m very happy that I’m their coach, and I can’t wait to get back to work,” Andersen said. “We will bounce back, and we realize that we have another good opponent on the way very quickly.”
