The mostly commonly asked question on the UW campus last week: 'Where was Jon's column last Wednesday'?
'I looked, but I didn't see it.'
A note to my loyal fan base: this was no mistake.
Whether it was because I needed time away to collect my thoughts or that the sports section was only allotted a single page for the entire week forcing the editor to create some space, I decided to hang up my pen for a week.
But I'm back again and happy to say I feel close to 100 percent. Earlier in the week I was day-to-day. I had tendonitis in my knee and it was rumored a freshman would replace me on the depth chart, but I was able to fend off the competition.
So what was the only logical thing to write about this week?
Simple. The importance of a bye week.
For the second consecutive year, the Badger football team is poised to make a late season run that will result in either a BCS invitation or another game against Georgia in the Outback Bowl. Overachieving once again, Wisconsin sits comfortably atop the Big Ten Conference with a 7-1 overall record (3-1 conference), as they prepare to play the final four games on their schedule.
How does the bye week factor into the equation? Badger players and coaches continue to wait for some time off.
Wisconsin has not had a week off since the season began in early September. Since then, they have battled numerous injuries on each side of the ball'??injuries that would seemingly benefit from an additional seven days off the field.
Conversely, their opponents have been the benefactor throughout the season.
Both Indiana and Northwestern had the luxury of a bye week before playing the Badgers. Each had an additional week of practice to scout and scheme for UW, while their players had a much needed break in the heart of the season. Indiana provided the blueprint to contain the Badger rushing attack and, a week later, the Wildcats handed Wisconsin their only loss of the season in Evanston.
'Everybody has had a bye week,' head coach Barry Alvarez said in his press conference on Monday. 'Ohio State had one last week. Iowa has one this week. So I think about everybody in the league now has had one but us. But I am concerned with that, so consequently we've altered practice again.'
Adjusting to the practice schedule has been one of many remedies the coaching staff has implemented to combat their schedule. Many veteran players have been given time off at practice while the players from the freshman class such as Travis Beckum and DeAndre Levy have been asked to step up and fill the voids.
By the time Wisconsin does arrive at its scheduled bye week, it will have one remaining game against Hawaii before playing in a bowl game well over a month later. This is the equivalent of scheduling spring break a week before finals week.
Whether these circumstances will truly affect the Badger's season remains to be seen. But in the time leading up to the bye in mid-November, a more perplexing question will undoubtedly present itself: Is it possible to go 1-0 during a bye week?
Just thought I would give John Stocco some time to prepare for that question.
