It had to happen sooner or later. The Wisconsin Badgers football team came into Saturday's game against Ohio State with a perfect record at Camp Randall Stadium under head coach Bret Bielema, going 16-0 during that stretch.
But all good things have to come to an end, and the Badgers lost 20-17 in front of the 81,608 in attendance at Camp Randall.
This was a tough game. Wisconsin played their hearts out, Ohio State played their hearts out,"" Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel said. ""There was a great atmosphere and a great crowd. It was a battle, and we were fortunate to be able to take it down that last drive and make some plays.""
In the end, that is what it boils down to: the Buckeyes made the plays and the Badgers didn't.
Holding onto a 17-13 lead with 6:24 left in the game, it was up to the Badger defense to nail the door shut on the Buckeyes. Considering the defense had been Wisconsin's strength this season, the daunting challenge of stopping OSU freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor and junior running back Chris Wells seemed a little bit easier, especially since the Badgers had held the OSU offense relatively in check up to that point in the second half.
However, what followed did anything but relax Badger fans.
Pryor orchestrated a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with him scampering into the end zone from 11 yards out.
""He was everything the coaches said he would be,"" senior defensive end Matt Shaughnessy said. ""It's tough when it's second, third and long and [Pryor gets] a first down on a run, but that's football. You've just got to bounce back and play the next play.""
That is exactly what the Badgers would have to do, as for the second week in a row Wisconsin would have to drive down the field in the last minutes of the game and come from behind. But unlike last week, when UW was able to score a touchdown but missed the game-tying two-point conversion, Saturday's affair had a rather abrupt ending.
On the first play from scrimmage on Wisconsin's next drive, senior quarterback Allan Evridge dropped back to pass and scrambled to his left.
Unable to find a receiver open downfield, it looked as if he would tuck the ball and run.
Evridge, however, tried to force a throw to senior tight end Travis Beckum, only to have OSU senior cornerback Malcolm Jenkins intercept the pass, sealing the victory for the Buckeyes.
The loss marks the second straight for UW, as the Badgers have now opened the Big Ten season with a 0-2 record.
""It's tough [to lose two games like this]; it's not an easy thing. Last week we didn't play to our potential,""
sophomore center John Moffitt said.
""This week,I thought we played a lot harder, like it was a different team out there today. It was a tough, emotional loss, but we've got to get back on the horse and get back at it.""
After last week's loss to Michigan, Bielema said he thought at certain times during the game that players were not playing as hard as they could, but made sure that it was known he did not feel that way after the loss to OSU.
""I, by no means, am faulting anybody's effort or desire,"" Bielema said. ""We just have to be able to be clean on what we ask those kids to do; otherwise, we can't have success.""
