Although Wisconsin is headed to the Big Ten Championship
game next week thanks to the transgressions of two Legends division foes, they
are completely undeserving of the honor. But while there is no doubt the 2012
edition of Badger football doesn’t have the pleasure of a leader the caliber of
Russell Wilson, they do have the talent to beat each of the five teams they
have lost to thus far this season.
What they don’t have this season, in part due to offseason
coaching changes, is the identity necessary to be a true championship-caliber
team.
Never has that lack of an identity been more apparent than
in Saturday’s loss at Penn State. After getting out to a fast start and holding
a 14-7 lead at the half, Wisconsin played the remainder of the afternoon like a
team with the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Rather than playing like the team with nothing to lose,
having already sewn up a birth in the conference title game, the Badgers played
not to lose. From the overly conservative play calling in the final two minutes
of the first half to the run play called on third-and-9 late in the fourth
quarter, the conservative play calling by offensive coordinator Matt Canada was
a drag on the offense and a hamper on the ability of the team to put away a
Nittany Lion team that had no business winning this weekend.
The ridiculous conservatism came to a head when Wisconsin
decided to settle for a PAT and overtime following a 2nd straight
final drive touchdown with UW down 7 points.
Last week, settling for overtime at least made some sense.
The Badgers had the momentum, were playing at home, and had failed on two
straight short-yardage plays at the goal line just a few minutes earlier.
But in State College, overtime was not a place the Badgers
had any reason to venture. Win or lose, overtime made no sense for Wisconsin.
Having already lost four times, it was already Rose Bowl or
bust for this UW team. The formula had become fairly simple, with a Big Ten
Championship game victory sending the Badgers to Pasadena and a defeat likely
sending them to either Jacksonville or Tampa.
So the result of Saturday’s game meant virtually nothing for
Wisconsin. As simply as ever, the Badgers had nothing to lose.
What they had to gain was momentum. They had the momentum of
another last-second comeback and the emotional lift of a two-point conversion
to quiet a loud Beaver Stadium crowd.
And perhaps most importantly, they had a running back that
had just become the all-time touchdown leader in FBS history.
But even had Wisconsin failed on a two-point conversion and
fell one-point shy, they would have been better off than they would heading to
overtime. Forget the percentages (43% success rate on conversion attempts),
going for two was the only call.
First of all, overtime brings in the possibility of injury.
Without anything to gain from a win, there was no reason Wisconsin should have
extended the opportunity to suffer an injury any longer than it already was
with the game on the line in the final seconds. One bad step and UW could not
only lose a chance to win the game, but also a shot at winning next week’s
title game.
Add to that the fact that Wisconsin had already lost two
straight overtime games. The confidence simply wasn’t there for the overtime
and the Badgers’ recent history likely curbed any momentum Wisconsin had
following Jeff Duckworth’s touchdown catch. Now that UW has lost three straight
in extra frames, frustration is likely to set in. That is not a good formula
heading into a matchup with Nebraska that will almost certainly be decided down
the stretch.
The general rule is that a two-point conversion for the win
is the right call for a visiting team but not a home team. As the adage goes,
“you play for the win on the road and play for the tie at home”. Wisconsin had
this rule on its side and plenty of evidence to support it as the correct
decision for the moment in question.
But right now, Wisconsin doesn’t have an identity. Wisconsin
doesn’t have the belief in its offensive line that it has had for years, the
belief that they can get two-and-a-half yards at any time when they absolutely
need it.
Part of the problem is certainly the personnel. The Badgers
lost four NFL offensive linemen in the past two years and have a line that is
clearly not as polished as UW would like. Still, this is a team that racked up
over 550 yards on the ground just two weeks ago against Indiana. While Indiana
is by no means Penn State, a team that can put up those numbers against a
conference opponent has to have at least the belief that they can gain two
measly yards on command.
After last year, you could say that the losses at Michigan
State, Ohio State, and in Pasadena were the result of bad luck, of coming so
close, anything. But after losing five games that hung in the balance (and add
a lucky win against Utah State) in 2012, there is no other place to point the
finger than at Bielema and his coaching staff.
I have tried to defend Bielema for most of the past two
years. His numbers speak for themselves and are impressive even in the shadow
of the almighty Barry Alvarez. But this year he and his staff have shown an
impeccable ability to lose control of the game and to panic down the stretch that
is simply unacceptable at a program with the pedigree of Wisconsin.
Teams win close games by sticking to what they do best and
by doing it better than ever when it matters the most. Over the past two
seasons, Wisconsin has lost its identity and become a shell of itself when
victory hangs in the balance. A missed field goal early this season and a
miracle catch in Indianapolis last December gave the Badgers a few close wins,
but other than that they have come up empty.
From Paul Chryst lining up in the shotgun and throwing in
the two-point conversion against TCU to the decision to settle for overtime in
State College, the Wisconsin coaching staff has lost a sense of what it means
to play Badger football in tight games. Sure it is up to players to make plays,
but it is up to coaches to give those players a chance to make those plays.
Right now, the UW staff is doing anything but. Unless they regain that identity
and stick to it when the going gets tough, Wisconsin will continue to descend
from its place atop the Big Ten ranks.
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