BADGERS GO FROM CONTENDER TO PRETENDER
October 13, 2007
With chants of overrated raining throughout Happy Valley Saturday afternoon the Penn State Nittany Lions pounded the Wisconsin Badgers 38-7.
The Badgers (5-2, 2-2) lost their second straight after having won 14 in a row.
Two weeks ago the Badgers were in prime position for a unbeaten run through the Big Ten and chance at a national title in the BCS championship game. Now, they’ve lost two straight and are struggling. Wisconsin’s season-long woes on defense continued Saturday, and their offense was held to a season-low point total.
Things are getting so bad in Madison that next week’s game against Northern Illinois is a must win for the Badgers if they plan on going to a bowl game this year. A win against the Huskies (1-6) would give the Badgers their sixth win of the season and make them bowl eligible.
With games against Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan and Minnesota left after next week’s game its conceivable the only game the Badgers will be a favorite to win is the November 17th date with the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis.
Star tailback P.J. Hill, who bruised a groin last week against Illinois, had 19 carries and ran for a touchdown but was held to 75 yards rushing on the afternoon by the Nittany Lions, 50 below his season average.
He got the Badgers off to an awful start, fumbling on the Wisconsin 16 after being hit by defensive end Josh Gaines on the first play.
Linebacker Sean Lee recovered at the 12, and three plays later Matt Hahn leaped into the end zone from 1 yard out to give the Nittany Lions a quick 7-0 lead.
Early in the second quarter, wide-open freshman wideout David Gilreath, getting more playing time because of injuries to the Wisconsin receiving corps, bobbled a pass that would have given the Badgers a sure first down at midfield. Penn State’s Lydell Sargeant picked the ball out of the air for an interception.
Three plays later, Morelli faked left and hit Deon Butler in stride down the right sideline for a 29-yard score and 17-7 lead.
A giddy Butler raised his right fist in the air as he trotted by the raucous student section. It was happy homecoming game in Happy Valley.
Evan Royster’s 19-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-1 with 6:29 in the second quarter gave Penn State a 24-7 lead that Wisconsin would never threaten.
Its time for the Badgers to do some soul searching this week in Madison. The offense, which was hyping running back P.J. Hill as a Heisman trophy candidate, has been non-existent the last couple of week against the Fighting Illini and the Nittany Lions. The Badgers have got to take better care of the football if they are going to be competitive the rest of the way in the Big Ten.
The defense is in worse shape than the offense. All the Nittany Lions had to do Saturday against the Badgers was get the ball past the defensive line and they were running wild all over Beaver Stadium. The Badgers defense has as many holes in it as an old block of Lindberg cheese.
The Badgers have not beaten a team ranked higher than 54th in the latest CBSSports.com college Division 1-A football poll. The Badgers wins have come against Michigan State (54th), Washington State (75th), Iowa (76th), UNLV (92nd), and The Citadel (Div 1-AA).
Only Michigan State (4-2) and The Citadel (3-2) have a winning record this year. The rest of the Badgers wins have come against teams with a combined 7-13 records.
At least Badgers fans have something to look forward to in the next couple of weeks - the start of the basketball and hockey seasons.
Two weeks ago the Badgers controlled their own destiny to the BCS championship game - now they don’t even control their own fate in the Big Ten.
Pretty soon the rumors will be swirling in Madison that maybe Bret Bielema isn’t as good as coach as everybody thought he was last year. Maybe Barry Alverez left Bielema a full cupboard of talented players last year and Bielema rode those horses to a 12-1 record but now that some of Alveraz’s stallions are gone, Bielema is starting to ride his ponies and its showing up every Saturday on the football field.
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3 Responses to “BADGERS GO FROM CONTENDER TO PRETENDER”
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Hook you hit it on the head…my expectations this year for the badgers was very high but to date they have only disappointed. My badger red is going away until next year but I might think about bringing it back for basketball/hockey season!
Its about time someone puts some heat on Bielema…Its a sad thing when you go from national championship contender to a has been in the Big Ten in less than one year…Time to start coaching Bret or your stay in Madtown might be a short one…The alumni will not put up with losing.
The fact that the Badgers lost to Penn State in Happy Valley was not surprising – after all, the Nittany Lions had won 18 of their last 19 games at home. What was surprising was how thoroughly bad the Badgers looked in nearly every facet of the game. What was surprising is how thoroughly lifeless and disinterested the Badgers looked throughout the game. What was surprising was that, unlike last week’s loss against Illinois, the Badgers were never able to achieve any sort of momentum that suggested that they could possibly even compete in the game.
What was surprising is how much the Badgers stunk.