As the dust settled on Wisconsin's 42-13 Champs Sports Bowl loss at the hands of Florida State, one word emerged as a theme in the players' post-game comments.
Mistakes.
Perhaps it was the blown trick play that resulted in a 75-yard Seminole fumble return for a touchdown. Maybe it was the slew of fumbles, the poorly-timed penalties or the 30 second touchdown drive they allowed at the end of the first half.
This was not the first time sloppy play has been crucial to a Badger loss in 2008. This is why head coach Bret Bielema and his coaching staff must bear most of the blame for the disappointing 2008 football season.
Wisconsin was not as talented as many thought in the preseason, but the team clearly could have been better than its final 7-6 record. Sloppy play and miscues, however, played a central role in three of the Badgers' regular season losses.
In Ann Arbor the Badgers blew a 19-point lead in the last 18 minutes of the game and then failed to tie the game due to a formation penalty. Keep in mind that the Wolverines went 3-9 and lost to Toledo.
The next week Wisconsin again failed in the game's most critical moments against Ohio State. Clinging to a four-point lead, the Badger defense (remember, Bielema's specialty is defense) allowed a freshman quarterback, starting his first road game, to march his team 80 yards down the field for the game-winning score.
The state of Michigan was again the site of a dismal loss when the Badgers let an 11-point lead disappear against the Spartans in the game's final nine minutes. The comeback featured an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Bielema that set up a touchdown, and a holding penalty which erased a first down that would have guaranteed a Wisconsin victory.
So there you have it, three games where poor play late in the game cost Wisconsin a victory. The hallmark of great coaching is a team that plays its best in big situations, and that was something the Badgers rarely did.
Win those three games and the Badgers had a good shot at the BCS. Win two and Wisconsin at least has a respectable nine wins. The difference there could have been coaching, but'¦ well'¦ it wasn't.
Instead, fans are left with a team that began the season ranked in the top-11 and finished the year at 7-6, needing three missed extra points to beat FCS Cal-Poly.
After several of the losses this year, Bielema said that the team most responsible for beating Wisconsin was Wisconsin. That prompts the follow-up: isn't it the coach's job to keep a team from beating itself?
As for next season, the team loses P.J. Hill, three offensive line starters and six seniors from a defense which ranked eighth in the Big Ten in points allowed. Younger players should be able to hold down these roles, but if Bielema and his staff can't iron out the bevy of mistakes their team made game after game, the 2009 season will be a very difficult one for Badger fans.
Think Bielema's top-notch coaching was key in Wisconsin's one-point victory over Cal-Poly? Share that with Ben at breiner@wisc.edu.
