From the beginning of his weekly press conference Monday, Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema made it clear that he is excited to get back to work following a tough loss to Michigan State in East Lansing Saturday.
""The good thing that I've really learned in this profession, you know as coaches you always take things a little more to heart, a little more deeper and longer than players,"" Bielema said about the loss.
""When you're 18, 19, 20 years old you always bounce back a little bit quicker, and I think that was the case yesterday getting around our kids and feeling their energy, and the same will be said tomorrow when we take the practice field.""
Bielema did stress some concern over the conditioning and work ethic of certain players, though.
""Just by the way certain guys played, I don't know if they were giving it full go, or 100 percent ready-to-be-at-the-game speed that we need,"" Bielema said.
When Bielema opened the floor to questions, he received many about the way his players performed Saturday.
""In life, you choose your consequences,"" Bielema said. ""We didn't approach the game the right way as a whole, and because of that we lost the game. Ultimately, we chose our consequences.""
Bielema was then asked what this loss means to the Badgers' aspirations as a team, and whether or not this loss hurts the team in winning the conference title.
""All we want to do is get better on a weekly basis. We didn't do the things we needed to do to win that football game, but my goal and aspiration for this group is to focus on one week at a time,"" Bielema said. ""Where we're at now will probably let us focus on that goal better than ever before because there is a setback, but the immediate result is you get a chance to play Minnesota in a rivalry game and move ourselves forward.""
The ""Battle for the Axe"" is the most-played rivalry in the FBS, played continuously since 1890 (excluding 1906), and Minnesota will want Bunyan's axe now more than ever. The Gophers come into Camp Randall this week with a 1-4 record, having lost of four in a row and desperate for a winafter losing their Big Ten opener to Northwestern.
""Because of where [Minnesota is] at right now, I expect them to come in here as hungry and eager to be a part of success as anybody that we've faced to this point,"" Bielema said.
The Badgers should not take the Gophers lightly, though. In the 120 meetings between Minnesota and Wisconsin, Minnesota leads the series 59-52-8. The Badgers have won 13 of the past15 meetings though, including the last six in a row.
Additionally, as the team looks to reorganize after their first loss, running back coach John Settle indicated Monday that there will be an open competition in practice this week between junior John Clay and freshman James White for the starting running back role against the Gophers.
Although the ultimate decision is up to Bielema, Settle indicated that he was extremely impressed with White's work this past Saturday when he ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Clay, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year has been relatively underwhelming thus far.
