With the hangover of the “408 game” still permeating the mind of the 2014 Wisconsin squad heading into its final two games, the Badgers’ grasp on the Big Ten West was theirs to lose. It narrowly survived the tight confines of Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa and cruised in the battle of Paul Bunyan’s Axe the following week, earning a date with Ohio State at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Heading into its road trip to Iowa Nov. 22, 2014, Melvin Gordon’s Heisman stock was rocketing into the stratosphere. Derek Landisch was solidifying his rightful place in the same discussion as Mike Taylor, Ethan Armstrong and Chris Borland. Dave Aranda started fielding the occasional question about his head coaching prospects, and the Gary Andersen era seemed to be progressing into full bloom.
College football, and collegiate athletics in general, is a game of transition, evolution and progression. In recent years, though, Wisconsin has seemingly defied that notion, consistently finishing among the leaders of the Big Ten and playing in meaningful games at the tail end of each campaign. But, for the first time in recent memory, at least for most students on campus, UW faces the challenge of playing its final games of the season with little on the line.
It’s not as if all hopes are lost for the Badgers, but their path to their ultimate goal, a shot at the Big Ten Championship, is hanging by a thread. With Iowa taking care of Minnesota last Saturday, it merely needs to win one of its remaining games against Purdue and Nebraska to clinch a West Division championship. While not impossible, it’s highly improbable the Hawkeyes will drop either matchup, especially given how Kirk Ferentz has managed to inject energy into a recently drowsy program.
From 2010-’12, it was about unexpectedly battling their way to three consecutive Rose Bowl appearances. In 2013, Wisconsin was in a similar position to the 2015 outlook, as it was in the hunt for a Leaders (still trying to imagine what conversation lead to this) Division championship until the final two weeks of the season. UW obviously executed down the stretch last season, but now, its fate is very much out of its hands.
That will not, by any means, result in any sort of capitulation from Wisconsin, however. Saturday is senior day for many Badgers, and it will be the last time they have the honor of taking the field at Camp Randall Stadium. Of that group that is playing for the last time in Madison, just nine are current starters. The rest of the roster is essentially in flux, as the offensive line, running back, defensive line and linebackers have been defined by changes all season, and are primarily populated by underclassmen.
For many of the underclassmen, there’s still much to prove. Redshirt freshman tackle Beau Benzschawel needs to show he can be the anchor of the Badger offensive line moving forward by capturing the flashes of greatness he’s shown. Redshirt freshman linebacker T.J. Edwards has shown he can possibly be the centerpiece of Aranda’s defense for years to come, but a strong finish will further solidify that notion. Sophomore kicker Rafael Gaglianone has been one of the more polarizing Wisconsin players all season, and a weak performance from him in the next two weeks will crack the placekicker spot wide open.
The Badgers are in that transitional period that they have somehow managed to avoid this decade. If that feels weird, it should, because mysteriously, Wisconsin has undergone three coaching changes and a litany of personnel turnover, but it would be difficult to be aware of that notion based on its season results.
An unexpected Big Ten loss has nearly become an annual guarantee for this program. The snag in 2015 is that it happened to come against Iowa, a team that hit its stride at just the right time (a week after its trip to Wisconsin) and has taken advantage of a soft schedule. As it showed last year with its inexplicable loss to Northwestern, a devastating loss is actually more palatable when it’s, well, more devastating, at least record-wise.
Although clawing back toward the Hawkeyes is essentially a goose chase at this point, there’s still meaning on the line for this 2015 team. All things considered—the coaching changes, an almost comical streak of injuries, a severe lack of offensive playmakers and the loss of its defensive core from a year ago—head coach Paul Chryst’s debut has been positive. It’s unlikely Wisconsin will get to the conference championship, and thus a New Year’s Day bowl, but Chryst managed to to alleviate a situation which could have easily spun out of control.
Following its 59-0 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten championship and Andersen’s disappearing act, Chryst inherited an extremely unsavory situation, to put it lightly. Chryst and the Badgers have fought through some of the toughest mental obstacles a team can face, and that’s something worth finishing these next two weeks.
