WISCONSIN BADGERS

Notes: UW has to regroup after loss crushes high hopes

Ben Steele
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin cornerback Rachad Wildgoose  is unable to drag down Michigan running back Chris Evans during the fourth quarter on Saturday night.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The season started with lofty ambitions for the Wisconsin football team.

The Badgers headed into the opener against Western Kentucky ranked No. 7 in the Amway coaches poll and No. 4 by The Associated Press. Many pundits pegged UW as one of the four teams that would land in the College Football Playoffs.

That seems so long ago now.

First, a stunning 24-21 loss to BYU dented the Badgers' chances of a run at a national title. Then came a total meltdown on Saturday with a 38-13 loss on the road at Michigan that will quiet any of that talk.

Now UW (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) can only try to pick up the pieces with six games still to play.

"We can still win a Big Ten championship in the West," Badgers offensive guard Michael Deiter said. "There's still a ton of stuff to play for. It's not like we were saying it was playoffs or bust for us.

"That was never our thing. The goal was to get to the playoffs, whether or not that's possible I don't know. It wasn't, 'Hey, guys, we have to make the playoffs or the season is a wash.' That was the never the mentality and it's not going to be now."

UW running back Jonathan Taylor, who had 101 yards against the Wolverines and has 950 yards on the season, isn't going to dwell on what might have been this season.

"You got to ask yourself who you want to be as a team," he said. "And ask yourself who you want to be as a player. And are you going to let that stop you?"

"So it's time to get back to the drawing board and get ready for next week."

Perhaps the expectations were too high?

"It's never unfair to have expectations at all," Deiter said. "If anything, it's nice to be recognized and have people think you're a good football team. Obviously you can't buy into it too much.

"But it was nice to have the expectations but I wouldn't say it was better to have them or not."

So UW's attention now switches to next week's game against Illinois.

GAME REVIEW:Short-handed Badgers get worn down

REPLAY:Patterson makes enough big plays to keep UW defense off-balance

BOX SCORE:Michigan 38, Wisconsin 13

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:Live scoreboard, box scores, conference standings

GAME BLOG:Review our live coverage of UW-Michigan

"Kind of have a 24-hour rule," UW wide receiver Kendric Pryor said. "Think about it, watch film (on Sunday), correct some stuff. Then after that there's nothing we can do about this game. It's over with now."

Missed opportunities: The Badgers were still in the game when they were trailing, 13-7, at the start of the second half.

Then a pair of penalties on UW torpedoed the Badgers' chances during Michigan's first drive after halftime.

First, freshman cornerback Rachad Wildgoose was flagged for holding on third-and-5 at the Michigan 30-yard line. 

Then after keeping the Wolverines from getting a first down again, the Badgers were flagged for roughing the long snapper. The penalty allowed Michigan to keep the ball. The drive ended with Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson scoring on a 7-yard run.

The rout was on after that. 

"The referees make calls," UW safety Eric Burrell said. "You can't do nothing about that. You just got to learn from it. Play the next play.

"It was a key play but, hey, it happens."

Interestingly, the Badgers were also called for a roughing the snapper penalty against Michigan in 2016.

"Those are the types of things when you do get a stop and then give the ball back to them, that makes it harder," UW coach Paul Chryst said. "Turnovers and penalties like that, you're helping a good team and that makes it that much tougher."

Pryor results: Pryor has a personal highlight reel against the Wolverines.

Last season the receiver scored on a 32-yard reverse at Camp Randall Stadium. On Saturday, he found the end zone on a 33-yard jet sweep.

"I know for a fact on this one, if it wasn't for Jack Dunn and Alec Ingold, I probably wouldn't have scored," Pryor said. "Because they put a good block on the corner and the safety.

"Then I got to finally just showcase my speed and cut up the sideline....I made sure after I got to the sideline I found Jack and said "Thank you very much for that" and then I found Alec and said "Thank you for that, too."