After Wisconsin's 63-32 loss to Indiana Saturday, Badgers Head Coach Barry Alvarez could not seem to find a rhyme or reason as to his team's lackluster performance.
Even after looking at the game film Sunday, Alvarez was still at a loss Monday to pinpoint an explanation of what happened Saturday.
'I don't know if anybody has an answer,' Alvarez said. 'I can't give you an answer. I thought we had great preparation. I thought our practices were good. I thought we had [the players] attention, and I thought they really practiced and prepared well.'
That preparation was not enough to prevent Indiana from rolling up some impressive offensive statistics.
Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle El rushing for 105 yards and passing for 182 yards on eight completions.
Running back Levron Williams rushing through a porous UW defense for 280 yards and a Big Ten record-tying six touchdowns.
Despite the good week of practice leading up to the Indiana contest, the team was not worried about its defense.
Rather, the primary worry for Wisconsin coming into the game was an offense that went from looking great Sept. 22 at Penn State to inconsistent against Western Kentucky Sept. 29.
'We were more concerned with our offense because we had just put two back-to-back excellent defensive efforts together; not that we played well offensively Saturday, ' Alvarez said.
UW running back Jerone Pettus agreed with this coach's statements about practice.
'We were prepared for the game, we had a good week of practice,' Pettus said. 'When things go wrong, everything goes wrong and not just one thing.'
The concern for the offense quickly turned to concern for every aspect of Alvarez's squad as the coaches began to mull over the game plan for UW's next opponent, an Ohio State squad that thrashed Big Ten-favorite Northwestern 38-20 Saturday.
'All I know is we've got to get focused on Ohio State and prepare for them as fast as we can and no more than that,' Alvarez said. 'You don't have to go a step farther than that.'
'We always use the slogan 'What's important now' and right now we've got to prepare well tonight, get a good scouting report and a good understanding. We've got to have a good initial practice and our two workout days better be very good and we need guys to get closer. You need guys to rally, you need guys to really concentrate on what they have to do.'
That concentration and focus starts with the team seniors and must quickly filter down to the young players.
While Alvarez feels his team has responded to losses earlier in the season, he also knows that this weeks game at Ohio State, with a crowd of more than 100,000 and the game at Illinois two weeks later will be the team's litmus test.
In times like this leadership must step up. Leadership for the Badgers comes in the form of Wisconsin defensive lineman Wendell Bryant.
'We have to bounce back and we're going to bounce back,' Bryant said. 'We're going to Ohio State and we're going to have to play way better than we just played [against Indiana].'
Not only is this week the first major test for the young players, this will be the first major test of confidence for Alvarez since 1997, when a young UW squad was shutout 34-0 by Syracuse in the Kickoff Classic.
'Coaches aren't any different than anybody else,' Alvarez said. 'I've seen a lot of the good things that we've done, and I see a lot of potential there and I see a lot of season left. The only thing I know how to do is fight and prepare your team the best you can.'
Perhaps the Badgers, as they prepare for Ohio State, need to heed the advice of Indiana Head Coach Cam Cameron, who has been on the receiving end of a few blowouts, including a 59-0 loss to the Badgers two years ago.
'Nothing teaches you more than getting your butt kicked,' Cameron said after the game. 'There is no better teacher than just getting your fanny handed to you.'
