From the thrills of Tyler Donovan’s diving, game-clinching touchdown in Vegas and the feel-good Senior Day win over Michigan to the lows of back-to-back losses to Illinois and Penn State and a near-miss loss in the Outback Bowl, the 2007 Wisconsin football season was a wild experience.
Almost like being on a thrill ride at an amusement park, wouldn’t you say, Paul Hubbard?
?I would agree fully with that,? the senior wide receiver said. ?We?ve been up and down throughout the entire season. We?ve had a lot of injuries to key players that we?ve lost throughout the season. Our team morale has been up and down like a roller coaster, just the way our play has been.?
The Badgers started the season with high expectations and a No. 5 overall ranking. Escaping with victories in close calls on the road against UNLV and at home against rival Iowa gave voters impetus to drop Wisconsin in the polls, but the Badgers stayed in the top 10, coming in at No. 9.
After a litany of teams ranked ahead of UW lost, the Badgers were back to fifth. Still, even as UW climbed the polls, with a defense seemingly averse to creating turnovers and unable to crack spread option attacks and an offense that would be without top backup running back Lance Smith for all road games because of a unique university-imposed suspension, you just knew the dip was coming.
Click, click, click, click ? whoosh.
Unlike a roller coaster, the screams coming from Badger fans weren’t out of excitement. In their first Big Ten road game, the Badgers’ flaws were exposed and the defense was sliced apart by the Illini’s lightning-fast spread option. Juice Williams and Rashard Mendenhall combined to rush for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Aside from the game, UW also lost senior wideout Luke Swan for the season with a torn hamstring. Wisconsin plummeted in the national rankings after the defeat, falling 14 spots to No. 19.
The descent continued in ugly fashion the very next week, as the Badgers turned in their least inspired effort of the season in a 38-7 shellacking at the hands of the Nittany Lions of Penn State. The game wasn’t even as close as the lopsided final indicated, and after the loss, head coach Bret Bielema was disappointed in his team’s effort. Players would also later admit to letting the previous week’s defeat beat them mentally a second time.
After two wins stabilized the season, it was time for the ride to continue.
For a while, it looked like the Badgers were about to throw the nation for a loop, stealing Ohio?s signature marching band formation ?O.?
Wisconsin hung with the then-No. 1 team in the country for three quarters in what would have been one of the more improbable upsets in the history of the program.
Down to Zach Brown, the third-string tailback when the season started and a true freshman starting the first game of his career against the nation?s top run defense, the Badgers wrestled the lead away from the Buckeyes in the third quarter on a touchdown pass to fullback Chris Pressley. But as the fourth quarter wore on, the Buckeyes reasserted their dominance, sending the Badgers spiraling off to their third loss of the season.
In that way, the close call in the Outback Bowl made sense. It was a fitting culmination to an unpredictable season of missed opportunities.
And just when it looked like they were going to mount a game-winning drive in the final moments, there was the final twist, as Donovan’s pass intended for Hubbard found unfriendly arms at the goal line, ending what could be called nothing short of an erratic season.
?We did things well, we didn?t do things well at some times,? tight end Andy Crooks said. ?It was kind of all over the place.?
Wild rides are good if you?re hoping for some thrills and looking to lose your stomach, but the goal going forward for Bielema and the Badgers is winning championships ? Big Ten and grander. To do that, they must make sure future seasons? rides are much less like a spin around Space Mountain.
