Two weeks ago, the UW football team (2-2 Big Ten, 5-2 overall) was in prime position to challenge for a Big Ten title.
Now, after two road losses at Illinois and Penn State, the Badgers return home this week to face a struggling Northern Illinois team with hopes of getting back on the winning trail.
It's always good to play at home, not having to deal with the road,"" sophomore tight end Garrett Graham said. ""We just [have] got to play them like we play every other opponent.""
A year ago, Northern Illinois was a formidable opponent for any team it played, but after losing one of the nation's best running backs in Garrett Wolfe, the Huskies find themselves at 1-6 on the season and seemingly overmatched against even a struggling Badger squad.
However, in a season that has produced one upset after another, the Badgers understand what can happen on any given Saturday and have been preparing for a good showing.
""I think it goes back to playing football, having fun. That's what it's all about,"" senior quarterback Tyler Donovan said.
""Obviously, losing is not fun, but that's a statement of what our program brings to the table, and we're going to do everything in our power to get back to where we belong.""
The Badgers have reeled off 15 consecutive regular season non-conference victories and have only lost one time in their last 24 against non-conference opponents, a welcoming statistic for a team that has struggled mightily the past two weeks.
Even after the team's worst defeat in a number of years at Penn State, the Badgers maintain that confidence is not part of the problem.
""There's not much lack of confidence on this team, that's one thing,"" Donovan said. ""The vision and confidence on our team is not a factor, it's more just playing as a group within ourselves.""
Mistakes were made early on in the Penn State game a week ago, as sophomore running back P.J. Hill fumbled on the first snap of the game.
Defensively the mistakes carried over as well, as a couple of blown assignments and misreads led to some key momentum swings for the Nittany Lions.
Against a somewhat weaker opponent in Northern Illinois, the Badgers hope turnovers don't become an issue, but understand playing is the only way to clean up the mistakes that have been made.
""You want to play, you want to make all the corrections,"" freshman defensive back Aaron Henry said. ""You want to just go to work, so people have something good to look forward to.""
Five of the Huskies' six losses have come by an average of under five points, so had a couple of bounces gone the other way, they could have easily had a few more victories. Thus, the Huskies will come to Madison with nothing to lose and give the Badgers a run for their money, especially if the Badgers let the past two weeks get to them.
""You have got to stay positive, it's all been in the past now, we've lost two games,"" Donovan said. ""The biggest thing is if we live in the past, there's a long season ahead of us yet and we're only concentrating on Northern Illinois right now and that's all that matters.
