ANN ARBOR, Mich — Trailing by seven points in the closing minutes the Badgers, somehow, someway put themselves in a position to tie the game and force overtime with the 12th ranked Michigan Wolverines.
Wisconsin, needing just a touchdown, had earned a fresh set of downs on Michigan’s 31-yard line after an eight yard run by Anthony Davis. The scene was set; the opportunity for the upset — for a bowl berth — was there. However, there would be no celebration for Wisconsin fans.
Close doesn’t get you anywhere in the Big Ten, and close is all that the Badgers have been during this season. The game against Michigan was a portrait of the entire season compressed into 60 minutes of football. In the end, the results were no different.
Wisconsin put itself in position this year but has not been able to make the big play at the time that it matters most.
“We have played well, but we have to make some plays,” said Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez following Saturday’s loss. “In the past, when we have beaten teams like this, we have made plays.”
Perhaps the lack of a playmaker on offense is the one big difference between this season’s Wisconsin team and teams of the past. The difference is notable even from last year’s disappointing team. Time and time again the Badgers seem to be ready to explode only to have a dropped ball, or a shanked field goal haunt them.
The realization is that when the game is on the line, UW has no one player to turn to. They have no single player that can stand up and deliver a game-winning play. Gone are playmakers of the past like Ron Dayne, Chris Chambers, Vitaly Piesetsky and Kevin Stemke.
The only playmaker the Badgers planned to count on, Lee Evans, has been unable to play all season. This has left the Badgers searching for players who can take the game on their shoulders and make an impact.
Brandon Williams, Darrin Charles and Johnathon Orr each had a chance Saturday to be the playmaker that UW has needed so desperately, and each in turn, was unable to reverse the tides of the slipping Wisconsin season.
“Brandon (Williams) had a [touchdown] in his hands in the first half,” said Alvarez. “The jump ball at the end of the first half, we had one of our receivers take it out of the other receivers hands, and then with about two minutes left [Orr] has a ball in his hands in the end zone. You have to make one of those plays. We are going to kick a field goal right in front of the post, like an extra point, and we missed that. It is hard to give up points when you are playing a team like that and come out of there with a win.”
What Wisconsin has at receiver are very talented young athletes. They are good players that would be considered very serviceable players for a winning football team, but only if they are counted on as contributors, and not game breakers.
Wisconsin needs game-breaking plays from them, but anyone would be hard-pressed to look around the country and find any game-breaking freshmen receivers. They do not exist. UW’s receivers are young in a league where experience counts at the receiver positions more than at any other spot on the field.
“It is a young group of kids — a young group of receivers,” said Alvarez. “Maybe they don’t have quite strong enough hands to come down with some balls. Maybe I got spoiled to have a guy like Lee Evans whose hands were so strong that once he latched onto a ball it never left his hands. Some of these kids are 18 or 19 years old and they are young. I’m not using that an excuse, but it is one possible answer.”
Can the Badgers turn to Anthony Davis and expect game winning plays?
He is a good runner, but has not been able to be consistent this season. According to offensive coordinator Brian White Saturday’s game was the best he has seen Davis run since he has been in the program. According to Alvarez, Davis played extremely well but his running game was not what it needed to be. It didn’t gain consistency.
For all his speed and flash at UW, Michael Bennet was never a true playmaker. Ron Dayne was a playmaker because, if anything, he was consistent.
The only current playmaker that the Badgers have is Jim Leonhard. When the Badgers play you know that Leonhard will make plays, whether it is in a winning effort, or a losing effort. Saturday, only Leonhard made the type of play that the Badgers needed to beat Michigan, and he is the only UW player that has consistently made big plays this year. It is tough to win with your only playmaker at safety.
Meanwhile, the Badgers will continue to wait for one of their young weapons to emerge as the next Wisconsin star. The Badger freshmen have been some of Wisconsin’s best ever and may end up being some of the best players ever in the program. Small consolation for a group of seniors that may play their last game for Wisconsin Saturday if someone cannot rise to the occasion.
