Wisconsin Football: Time to Refocus on the Big Ten West

It’s been a difficult few weeks for the Wisconsin Football program but it is time to refocus as the Big Ten West title is still within reach.

Oh how quickly things can change in a matter of just a few weeks. On Friday, October 18th, the Wisconsin Football team sat at 6-0 on the season and were ranked sixth nationally. The defense had shut their opponents out in four of their six games, Jack Coan was playing well, Jonathan Taylor was being Jonathan Taylor, and they had dominated Michigan and Michigan State.

Talk of the College Football Playoffs was growing louder as a matchup with Ohio State was on the horizon. All Wisconsin had to do was go into Champaign, Illinois and take care of the Illini, a team that the Badgers had won eight straight games against and were once again struggling. Unfortunately, this is where the season turns ugly.

Wisconsin would lose on a last-second field goal after a sloppy game that included three turnovers from the offense and a defense that gave up two touchdowns of 40 yards or more and another of 29. The following week at the Horseshoe, the talent gap between Ohio State and the Badgers was quite clear as the Buckeyes rolled to a 38-7 victory after an incredibly dominant second-half of football.

While all may seem lost at the moment, the Badgers are on a bye this week and it really couldn’t have come at a better time. Although there won’t be any College Football Playoffs this season, they can still win the Big Ten West and make it to the Big Ten Championship game. But in order to do so, they need to refocus, win their final four games and receive a little help as well.

At this point in the season, it is essentially a three-team race for the Big Ten West title, but Wisconsin still has the opportunity to play each of those teams. The Minnesota Gophers sit at 8-0 overall and 5-0 within the Big Ten, while the Iowa Hawkeyes are tied with the Badgers at 6-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

Wisconsin will play Iowa this upcoming Saturday at Camp Randall. The Badgers have won six of the last seven games between the two schools but these are largely very competitive games and I expect much of the same in this year’s meeting. Although the Iowa offense has struggled, they’re ranked sixth in the nation in total defense and they will pose a difficult challenge for a Wisconsin offense that has struggled in recent weeks.

And as always, the Badgers’ final game of the season will be against Minnesota. While the Gophers are undefeated, it is difficult to know how truly good they are considering that their schedule up to this point has been quite easy. However, good news for Wisconsin is that it will get more difficult starting next Saturday as Minnesota still has to play Penn State, Iowa, and a tough Northwestern team. If the Badgers are going to have any hope of winning the Big Ten West, they will need the Gophers to lose at least one of these games.

But with all of that said, winning the Big Ten West starts with this Wisconsin Football team playing better. Over the last two weeks, there have been too many mistakes. Whether it’s turnovers from the offense or the defense giving up a big play, they need to get back to that buttoned-up Wisconsin style of football that we are accustomed to seeing. Not to mention that opposing Big Ten defenses have found a way to bottle up Jonathan Taylor this season and Jack Coan has struggled to throw the ball downfield.

It has certainly been a frustrating couple of weeks but their goal of winning the Big Ten West, making the Big Ten Championship, and a high-profile bowl game are still within reach. Hopefully, they’ve used this bye week to learn from their mistakes and refocus as they look to make one more push in the final weeks of the season.