Football: Takeaways from Saturday’s devastation in Madison

There was something off during Saturday’s game between Brigham Young University and the University of Wisconsin at Camp Randall.

It wasn’t just that the Badgers looked flat all game, which they did.

It wasn’t just that BYU’s offense seemed to be outsmarting the Badger defense consistently, which they were.

It ended with a missed field goal, but it’s not all on Gaglianone

After the missed field goal, Gaglianone could be seen mouthing “my bad” to just about every Badger player on their way into the locker room.

Kickers have the unenviable task of being the ones responsible for situations such as these. Even though the team played poorly against an unranked opponent the entire game, Gaglianone gets a chance to bring them back into it, misses and is saddled with the loss. Though any semblance of nuance washes away the idea that Gaglianone is the reason for the loss.

Every Badger player had Gaglianone’s back after the game on Saturday.

“It happens,” Wisconsin receiver A.J. Taylor said of the last-minute attempt. “It’s not like it’s his fault. We all made mistakes — his was just the one that was the most noticeable.”

To Gaglianone’s credit, he took complete ownership of the kick.

Gaglianone has come through time and time again for this program and was devastated to be on the other end of it in this game.

“It’s just part of my position, what I work for, what I’m judged for, I had my opportunity, and they put me in a good position,” Gaglianone said. “I felt like I needed to make that kick for the team.”

Gaglianone also made it clear he will be keeping his head up, and he won’t let this one play define him or the rest of the season.

Hornibrook’s performance left a bit to be desired

Was Badger’s quarterback Alex Hornibrook completely dreadful during Saturday’s game? No.

But his untimely interception, intentional grounding call and the absence of much of a big play ability from the redshirt junior are not exactly confidence-boosters.

Hornibrook was honest about the intentional grounding play, which appeared to be a mental lapse.

“That was a stupid play on my part.”

Hornibrook’s completion percentage was decent but as he went 18-28 and threw for 190 yards.

He echoed much of the same sentiments of his teammates, as he talked about the effect of the loss on the team, and whether it was deflating.

“I don’t think it’s deflating at all — I think it’s the exact opposite. A loss isn’t deflating, it isn’t going to defeat you just like everything else in life. If you think like that, that’s the wrong mindset,” Hornibrook said. “I’m excited to see what we do, I’m excited to be back in the building on Monday.”

Taylor has worst performance of the year, O-line doesn’t get it done

Running back Jonathan Taylor only ran for 117 yards Saturday, which by his standards normally qualifies for a decent first half.

This was a combination of a BYU defense that seemed intent on focusing solely on Taylor, daring the Badgers to make plays in other facets of their game — that strategy paid off.

Taylor rarely speaks personally and likes to deflect to a team-centric outlook, and it was no different Saturday when he was asked about whether the BYU defense was honing in on him.

“It was definitely tough,” Taylor said. “We knew they were going to come in and play hard. We didn’t expect them to give us anything.”

Taylor’s outing was not only an outcome of his performance but also a weak showing from the offensive line.

There was even a drive — Coach Paul Chryst was playing second-team lineman along with starter Michael Deiter, though, he says it wasn’t performance-based.

“It was hot, getting those guys a breather,” Deiter said. “It’s not like they were getting benched or anything like that.”

That may be so, but the offensive line was having trouble creating the same kinds of holes that we’ve seen the last couple of weeks.

Is the Season over?

In short: No.

The Badgers would need to run the table and win the Big Ten Championship to make the playoff, which was the original bar.

Next week Wisconsin will take on Iowa in a night game that’s sure to have a ton of energy from a crazy crowd. A resounding win next week could be exactly what this team needs to get back on track as they begin Big Ten Play.