If ever a team wishes they had one or two mulligans ...
Wisconsin is playing the rest of the season on a 0-2 count, the result of losses to LSU and Northwestern by a combined 10 points.
The Badgers (6-2, 3-1) have next-to no shot at the College Football Playoff, though they could move into the Top 25 after a methodical 37-0 win against Rutgers (5-4, 1-4) on Saturday.
Wisconsin, however, might just be on the right path to the Big Ten championship. Remember, the Badgers have won the conference two out of the last three years.
A few reasons why that could happen, and one big reason it might not:
The best player in the nation: It’s not a stretch to call running back Melvin Gordon that. He showed that with a 51-yard touchdown run on an off tackle run that was busted before he crossed field and took it to the end zone. He finished 20 carries for 132 yards and two TDs.
Gordon entered the day as the nation’s leading rusher, and he finished off his sixth straight game with 100 yards rushing. With 1,300 rushing yards, Gordon remains on pace to challenge Ron Dayne’s Big Ten record of 2,109 yards in 1996. Dayne later won the Heisman Trophy in 1999, when giving the award to a running back was acceptable. Gordon deserves the same respect.
Of course, in true Badgers fashion, the backfield is a tag-team. Sophomore Corey Clement added 10 carries for 132 yards and two TDs.
The noon-slot dominance: The Badgers are 6-0 in games that kick off at noon this season and should improve to 7-0 with a trip to Purdue next week.
The favorable schedule: The redemption ride begins after the Boilermakers. Wisconsin controls its destiny in the Big Ten West with a season-ending trifecta that includes Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. The Badgers are 5-1 against those teams since the Big Ten split into two divisions in 2011.
The underappreciated defense: Strange-but-true: Wisconsin leads the Big Ten in total defense at 253.8 yards per game. Rutgers found out the hard way with just 139 total yards on Saturday. The Badgers have a run game and a strong defense, two time-honored ingredients that win Big Ten championships.
The missing piece: Of course, the two-quarterback rotation of Tanner McEvoy and Joel Stave have to play better. Those two combined for an 8-of-20 effort for 87 yards and an interception against Rutgers, and they’ve totaled eight TDs and 10 interceptions this season.
Then again, with the exception of Russell Wilson, Wisconsin hasn’t had a difference maker at quarterback through its Big Ten title runs. The Badgers can get to Indy with these guys, but they can’t beat Ohio State or Michigan State - teams they are 1-5 against since the divisions split - without something more at the position.
That's why Wisconsin blew a 24-7 lead against LSU and lost to Northwestern despite 259 rushing yards from Gordon.
At this point, there are no more mulligans.
