EAST LANCING, Mich. - Another trip to the state of Michigan, another double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and, finally, another mistake-filled road defeat for the Wisconsin football team.
The Badgers lost for the fifth time in six games Saturday, when Michigan State junior kicker Brett Swenson drove a 44-yard field goal through the uprights to give his team a 25-24 lead with seven seconds remaining. The Badgers fell despite outranging the Spartans by large margins in both rushing and total yards.
It's hard to swallow,"" Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema said. ""If you are able to run the football effectively, which we were able to do, and stay penalty free you should be able to get the win. And obviously we weren't able to do that.""
A 32-yard UW touchdown by freshman running back John Clay gave the Badgers a 24-13 lead with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and then the slide began.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Badgers were assessed 20 yards in penalties before the defense even stepped on the field.
First came a delay of game penalty on sophomore safety Jay Valai for bumping into a referee on his way onto the field. That was followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Bielema for the way he responded to the call. The Badgers took 121 yards in penalties.
Moments later, Spartan quarterback Brian Hoyer erased a third-and-17 with a 38-yard completion, and after a pass interference penalty on Wisconsin, senior running back Javon Ringer ran in for the score.
The Badgers went three-and-out on their next position and MSU tacked on a field goal to cut its deficit to 24-22.
Wisconsin responded with an eight-play drive and appeared to have the game in hand when Clay ran for a first down deep in Spartan territory. The play, however, was called back on a holding penalty and the Badgers were forced to punt four plays and two penalties later.
From there, Hoyer and the MSU offense covered 52 yards on two completions to junior wide receiver Blair White. That helped set up Swenson's game winner.
""Throughout the whole game I felt that we had pretty much control of it,"" UW sophomore wide receiver David Gilreath said. ""[Early in the third quarter] momentum turned a little bit and then I felt the we got it back and then really thought that we had the thing sealed with John Clay running it down there. The holding call obviously hurt too '¦ Everything is just kind of in disarray right now.""
Wisconsin accomplished what they wanted to do on the ground, accumulating nearly 300 rushing yards and limiting Ringer, the Big Ten's top rusher, to 54 yards and 2.6 yards per carry. Clay and junior running back P.J. Hill each ran for over 100 yards and a touchdown on the day. It was the first time since 2005 that two Badgers ran for over 100 yards in the same game.
""The offensive line did an excellent job,"" Clay said. ""They stepped up big time, opened up the holes and all they did was their job. That's why I got my yards.""
The Wisconsin pass defense, however, was far more suspect. Hoyer threw for 258 yards on the day without accounting for at least three pass interference penalties Wisconsin committed.
The Badgers are now 1-5 in the Big Ten and alone in 11th place in conference standings. Saturday marked the third time this season that Wisconsin lost after leading in the fourth quarter.
""I can't say it was a pretty game, but we just kept hanging around,"" Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio said. ""[Wisconsin] ran the ball, well, effectively, but it shows you that you just need to keep playing.
