If there's one lesson to be learned from Wisconsin's 31-13 loss at Ohio State Saturday afternoon it's this:
The only thing standing between the Badgers and a return to relevancy in the Big Ten Conference is the Badgers, themselves.
"I really felt we had the opportunity to win this today," head coach Bret Bielema said.
He's not kidding.
Wisconsin, statistically speaking, dominated the Buckeyes for much of Saturday's matinee. The Badgers outgained Ohio State, 368 yards to 184; won the time of possession battle, 42 minutes 47 seconds to 17:13; gained 22 first downs compared to just eight for Ohio State; and, converted three of five fourth-down opportunities and even scored a touchdown (its lone of the game) on a fake field goal attempt.
Quarterback Scott Tolzien completed a career-high 27 passes in 45 attempts for 250 yards. And while two of his throws did go for touchdowns, they unfortunately were for Ohio State.
Wisconsin looked like it might be poised to challenge Ohio State -- and make oddsmakers look foolish -- when it went up, 10-7, with a first quarter field goal. But the Buckeyes, professional and poised under Jim Tressel, marched down the field, covering 80 yards in about a minute, to go up, 14-10.
At that point, the wheels fell off for Wisconsin. The Badgers' opening drive in the second half ended when Jermele Hines picked off Tolzien for a 32-yard touchdown. But after a field goal cut the Buckeyes' lead to eight, Ray Small nailed the coffin shut with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
"This is disappointing for our guys," Bielema said. "We felt good coming in and we really didn't get things done in the second half. Any time you give Ohio State points without their offense being on the field you're going to have problems. At this point it's important we know what we did today."
The loss hurts -- bad, considering the opportunity squandered -- but doesn't but a nail in Wisconsin's coffin. There's still reason for optimism because the rest of the schedule is somewhat favorable. Wisconsin returns to Camp Randall next week for the first of back-to-back home games against a surprising Iowa team and Purdue. The Badgers wrap up the Big Ten with road games at Indiana and Northwestern sandwiched around a home date with still-rebuilding Michigan before ending the year at Hawaii.
"One loss is not going to make the season," said senior defensive end O'Brien Schofield. "Coach told us we couldn't beat ourselves this game. Next week we need to bounce back as a team and use this as a learning experience to get ready for the next game."
It's not out of line to think the Badgers could very well make yet another trip to Florida for a second-tier New Year's Day Bowl Game. But when January 1 rolls around and Wisconsin is wondering why it isn't playing in Pasadena, the Badgers need only to look in the mirror.
