These are unsteady days here in Wisconsin. The Badgers are on a three-game skid which includes a loss to Michigan that grows less explicable every week. The Brewers made the playoffs for the first time since the early years of the Reagan administration, only to get blown out by the Phillies. Worst of all, last week Aaron Rodgers got hurt on the same day Brett Favre threw for six touchdowns.The Badgers are a team in disarray. A month ago they were a consensus top-ten team and people were praising them for a gutty win over Fresno State. A month ago nearly everyone thought that Bret Bielema's team was the only thing standing between Ohio State and the Big Ten title. A month ago, everybody was wrong about the Badgers.
Blame is like fruitcake: Somehow, it always seems like there's more than enough to go around. This week's designated hate sink is woebegone quarterback Allan Evridge. He was beyond dreadful last night. His first touchdown run as a Badger (he started his career at Kansas State, where Bielema used to coach) was nullified by his passing statistics: 2 of 10 for 50 yards. One touchdown. One interception. No wonder the UW faithful cheered backup Dustin Sherer when he came in halfway through the third quarter.
Sherer was better, completing more than 50 percent of his passes. The Badgers, however, could not find the end zone. Will there be a quarterback controversy in Madison? Bielema has all but conceded the point:
"Well I think the quarterback has to play a lot better in certain situations," [Bielema] said. "Whoever that's going to be will be determined by what our coaches see off the film and how they handle the week."
Sounds like the job has gone from being Evridge's to lose to being Sherer's to win. This, however, may not be the best week for the Badgers to make wholesale changes. Bielema will lead his team into the legendary pink locker room of Kinnick Stadium for a matchup with his alma mater, the University of Iowa. The Hawkeyes were left for dead by everyone (including me) just a week ago after a third-straight heartbreaking loss. Yesterday somebody stuck a quarter into their backs as they ran buckwild against the Hoosiers, 45-9. Kirk Ferentz even showed his seldom-seen mean streak. Think the Kinnick faithful aren't going to be craving blood?
The Badgers' bowl hopes are now in serious doubt. Their schedule is seriously front-loaded, though, and they've played what are likely their three toughest games. They've lost all three, however, and if they fall to 0-4 in the conference next weekend, it'll be time to remember that basketball season is coming.
If there was a bright spot for the Badgers yesterday, the only thing it could be is the return of the Wisconsin band from their one-game suspension. Even so, 76 fans wound up getting bounced from Camp Randall for a variety of offenses. That's not good, but during last week's Ohio State game, 86 fans were ejected. So there's at least one thing about Wisconsin football that's improving.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-12-2008 @ 9:44PM
jerome said...
I was at the game last nite and believe me, I was walking out of Camp Randall Stadium with 7 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. I haven't been to a Badger football game in a long time were the team was so outplayed and outcoached. My gosh, that was embarrasing.
Do you know what? I can't understand how this team continues to makes the same stupid mistakes week in and week out on offense.
I can't understand how the defense keeps letting the opponent off the hook in 3rd and long situations.
I can't understand how the team continues to at times look so disorganized in key situations.
I can't understand how this team was rated so highly in preseason polls when they had such a big question mark at quarterback.
One thing I can understand however, is that right now, this team will be lucky to make the Motor City Bowl in Detroit come mid-December. When does b-ball start?
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10-12-2008 @ 10:20PM
Mark Hasty said...
Better you hear it from me, Jerome, than you hear it from 38 SEC fans: "The Badgers were rated so high because the biased media always overrates Big Ten teams! They should stop trying to cram those slow, fat teams from the North down our throats! Any Big Ten champion would be lucky to go .500 in the SEC! S-E-C! S-E-C!"
Now, having said that ... Ohio State and Penn State are pretty good football teams. The only team that has even slowed down the Penn State offense is Purdue, for some inexplicable reason. Otherwise, the Nits have dropped between 38 and 66 points on everyone they've played, and they flattened the Oregon State team that blew out Southern Cal. Don't use last night's game as a measure of how good the Badgers are (or aren't), because a lot of teams have looked that bad against Penn State, and not all of them actually ARE bad.
Worry instead that the Michigan game might repeat itself, as well as the breakdown against Ohio State. I can't imagine the Badger defense has a lot of self-confidence at the moment, and I wouldn't want to be either Evridge or Sherer right now.
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10-12-2008 @ 11:30PM
Slapshot said...
Wisconsin had no answers last night, period. Offense, defense, special teams. This isn't a bad Badger team, its just an above average team that got its head handed to it by really good Penn State team.
The guys in the boring white uniforms look like they did when their coach was young enough to walk the sidelines. Penn State didn't do anything facy last night, they just exectued their game plan with maddening precision and left another opponent flailing in their wake. Its what Joe Paterno teams in the days before he was old enough to be in AARP.
The National Championship and the Rose Bowl are both gone, but then again were they every realistic??
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10-13-2008 @ 9:32AM
M1EK said...
PSU is still not showing what they showed in 1994 - the 1994 offense would have rolled up 70 or so on that Wisconsin team. Our D in 1994 wasn't as bad as advertised either - they just had to spend about 45 minutes of every game on the field.
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10-13-2008 @ 5:08PM
HUSKERDIVA said...
Bret, I saw you on an interview talking about your team and the plans you had for the 2008 season. Before I go further, I should tell you, I am a dyed in the wool Big 12 fan, but also, a HUGE college football fan. I picked you to win Saturday night because of that preseason interview. You had fire and conviction. Where is it? Believe me, I don't think a team should win every week...I'm a Huskers fan. I do, however, believe they should show up. You are a better coach that that. These kids want to play for you. COACH THEM. You know the game...I know you do. Put some fire in their bellies and turn them loose. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know...I just happen to like football.
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