Football coaches like to say a victory is a victory, and winning is all that matters. It is true that winning is all-important, but there are several kinds of wins. There are dominating wins — the Badgers have not had any of those this year. There are solid wins where you definitely outplay your opponent. Wisconsin did this against West Virginia.
Then there are wins like the victory over Northern Illinois when the head coach says, “To be honest with you, I felt that Northern Illinois outplayed us on both sides of the ball. I thought that we were on our heels all day. I feel very fortunate to walk out of there with a win.”
Throughout the week leading up to the game, Wisconsin coaches and players talked about not having a letdown. They said that they were taking Northern Illinois very seriously and that they would be fired up for the game.
One team did come to Camp Randall with the intensity needed to play a Big Ten football game, and it wasn’t the Badgers. Instead it was the upstart and underdog Northern Illinois Huskies from the MAC conference.
NIU came out and pressured the Badgers, played solid defense and was able to attack Wisconsin with a good mix of run and pass. Despite losing 24-21, Northern Illinois was able to pass for 273 yards while running for another 182 yards. These were not the Huskies that Badger players had expected to lay down for them, and it was almost too late before Wisconsin began playing with the sense of urgency it needed.
“I didn’t sense that our kids were overlooking them or taking them lightly,” said Alvarez.
While coaches did not want to admit the team came out expecting a cakewalk, players acknowledged they showed up expecting to win without doing the work.
“I kind of knew that there was a possibility of [the letdown] happening,” Scott Starks said. “A lot of players on the team didn’t come out that pumped. [NIU players] feel they should be in our places — they feel they should be playing in the Big Ten, and they came out fighting.”
After playing three games against marginal opponents, the Badgers may have expected to be able to handle Northern Illinois. Perhaps a more accurate analysis of the situation would have suggested that the Badgers would have a hard time beating anyone if they do not come out with emotion every game. All season, the Badgers have struggled in pass protection and have been unable to run the ball effectively since the season opener. Anthony Davis has struggled recently but admittedly did not come focused the way he felt he should have been.
“We came out and expected this team to lay down for us,” Davis said. “I think I definitely came out kind of lackadaisical. I think I came out kind of lazy.”
There are two different ways to look at a performance like this. One view would be that the tough game shows the Badgers are a good team. Some would say the 4-0 record is a fluke, and the Badgers should never have a close game with a team like Northern Illinois.
The other view is that good teams win games even when they play poorly. That certainly was the mindset that players and coaches were taking after the game.
Any 4-0 record is good one. After all, the last two times the Badgers opened the season with four victories they won the Rose Bowl. Not to say this team is even close to some of Alvarez’s past squads, but the truth is that nobody knows if Saturday’s game was an aberration or a sign of things to come later this season.
A win is a win, the Badgers are 4-0, and there were a few good signs to come out of Saturday’s contest. Wisconsin did not fold up when trailing. Bollinger was able to engineer a late drive to get the win, and the defense made a strong stand to ensure the victory. Games like the NIU and Fresno State contests earlier this year were games that Wisconsin found ways to lose in the past. The 2002 Badgers are finding ways to win the close games, even if it has meant winning ugly.
