IOWA CITY, Iowa - As he sat in front of the media after his team's 38-16 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday, Wisconsin Badger football head coach Bret Bielema - with a sense of desperation in his voice - explained the current state of the team.
We are going to take a very critical look at everything that we are doing,"" he said. ""We will get as simple as we need to get because we need to get better at something ...Right now, we're not very good in all areas of the game.""
After the last few weeks, Wisconsin might have to get very simple.
The Badgers have lost four straight games for the first time in over 10 years and are currently in the cellar of the Big Ten with a 0-4 record. After starting the season highly ranked, UW has fallen out of the graces of the college football elite, and the team doesn't seem to know how to react '¦ and it shows.
""You can tell in the locker room that it's not a very good scene,"" junior quarterback Dustin Sherer said. ""I've been here for three years and I've never had it like this, so we just need to turn it around.""
That's easier said than done.
Disappointment, anger, sadness - any of these emotions can define what the Wisconsin football team is feeling right now. Unfortunately for the Badgers, these emotions don't seem to be fueling redemption. In fact, although UW talks about turning things around, this was the first week in which Bielema admitted that the Badgers needed to work on more than just communication errors or penalties.
The level of frustration Wisconsin has felt over the last four losses has accumulated to this point, a total breakdown against Iowa offensively, defensively and on special teams.
Offensively, the Badgers had three turnovers - all interceptions in the fourth quarter - and were unable to score more than nine points through the first three quarters. Offensive penalties stymied the three good Wisconsin drives, forcing UW to settle for the three field goals.
Defensively, failure came in the form of 254 yards rushing for Iowa, including 217 for junior running back Shonn Greene. Throw in Greene's four touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Ricky Stanzi's effective and efficient use of the passing game (11-of-18 for 114 yards and a touchdown), and the Badger defense didn't have anything to cheer about.
On special teams, freshman Brad Nortman continued his steady decline, punting six times for a 36.5 yard average.
However, Nortman's biggest impact came in the third quarter, when the Badgers allowed sophomore Hawkeye running back Paki O'Meara to block Nortman's punt, setting Iowa up for another easy score.
Over the last four weeks, when one thing has gone wrong for Wisconsin, it has seemed to snowball and force the Badgers' fragile psyche to collapse. That collapse has been evident in the last two games, blowouts against Penn State and now Iowa.
""The last two games, when things have gotten out of hand, it's that 'woe-is-me' feeling that when something goes wrong, it affects a couple of areas,"" Bielema said. ""That has a cumulative effect on your mentality.""
When asked to pinpoint the exact problem the Badgers are having this season, Bielema gave as straightforward of an answer as he could.
""It's a mental thing, it's a physical thing, it's an everything thing,"" Bielema said.
After the last four weeks, that pretty much sums it up.
