MADISON, Wis. — Maybe Wisconsin won't be sad to see Michigan State disappear from the schedule, after all.
Although the two teams have developed one of the better rivalries in the Big Ten in recent years, it has also meant plenty of heartbreak for Wisconsin. That trend continued Saturday during a 16-13 overtime loss at Camp Randall Stadium.
Barring another meeting in the Big Ten title game, the teams will not face each other again until 2017. Wisconsin and Michigan State play in separate divisions within the conference and aren't on the regular-season schedule for the next four seasons.
Here are five things we learned about Wisconsin from Saturday's game:
1. The offense still has a long way to go.
Some folks likely thought Wisconsin was back to business as usual after the team averaged 34.2 points over the past five games. But it's important to note the quality of competition wasn't exactly the best college football had to offer, save for a road loss at Nebraska.
Michigan State has one of the toughest defenses in the country, and it showed on Saturday. The Badgers passed for 171 yards and rushed for just 19 total yards.
Wisconsin rushed for 804 yards in victories against Purdue and Minnesota, but neither of those teams comes close to the challenges Michigan State's defense presents.
The uncertainty surrounding quarterback Joel Stave's injury doesn't make things any easier. His backup, Danny O'Brien, struggled to find a rhythm in the second half on Saturday.
If nothing else, a bye week will help Stave heal and help O'Brien re-gain his groove with the first-team offense.
2. The defense couldn't hold a lead.
So often this season, we have talked about Wisconsin's defense keeping the team in games while the offense struggled. For the most part on Saturday, the defense did its job.
But with the game on the line, the Badgers fell apart.
Michigan State quarterback Andrew Maxwell orchestrated a 12-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a touchdown with just over a minute remaining in the game. The Spartans twice faced third down and converted.
In overtime, Wisconsin absolutely had to hold Michigan State to a field goal and couldn't do it. Maxwell completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Bennie Fowler, hitting him with a back shoulder throw on Badgers cornerback Darius Hillary.
"I think guys were frustrated," Badgers linebacker Chris Borland said. "We put forth a good effort but didn't execute when we needed to. As you can understand, the guys feel pretty bad after that loss."
Overall, the statistics were decent. Wisconsin lowered its season average in the total yards department. The Badgers allowed 277 yards after averaging 315.6 yards. But it wasn't good enough.
3. The "barge" formation needs some tweaks.
Last week, Wisconsin unveiled a formation known as the "barge," which essentially was the "wildcat" with a different name. Running back James White lined up in the shotgun without a quarterback on the field and ran behind seven offensive linemen.
The formation was changed slightly against Michigan State, as Stave went out wide instead of watching from the sideline. But it didn't work with the same effectiveness. The lone play in which it did work — an 18-yard White touchdown run — was called back for a holding penalty.
Badgers center Travis Frederick inadvertently snapped the ball over White's head once, resulting in a 15-yard loss. Other times, the play went for no gain.
"I think it was just a matter of a couple different mistakes by different people," Frederick said. "We had it set up a little differently here and there. With the snap over the head, I think the play probably would have gone for a touchdown. That's obviously a big play for me. Once that happened, we never got in a good situation to run it again. Once we did, we had the false start, the holding. Those things really kill drives."
4. Kicker Kyle French is cool in the clutch.
French took a big step during Saturday's game, establishing himself as a reliable field-goal kicker. He booted two key kicks late in the game. The first was a 39-yarder with 6:06 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Wisconsin a 10-3 lead. Later, he made a 43-yard field goal during overtime to push the Badgers in front, 13-10.
French has had his difficulties this season on both kickoff duty and field goals. At various times, he lost the starting job at both positions to Jack Russell. But he continues to demonstrate improvement and show Wisconsin can use him when necessary.
"I would say over the last two or three games he's built his confidence," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. "We all knew the Purdue game wasn't great, but he didn't falter, didn't waver. He's a sophomore getting better."
5. The Leaders Division is so bad (in the bottom three) that this loss doesn't matter.
Sure, Wisconsin badly wanted to win Saturday's game. The Badgers hadn't lost at home since Oct. 17, 2009. But let's face it: In the grand scheme of things, this loss won't hinder Wisconsin's chances to play in the Big Ten title game.
As it stands now, Wisconsin leads Indiana by 1 1/2 games in Big Ten play. Wisconsin is 3-2, while Indiana is 1-3. The two teams will meet in two weeks in a game that could basically seal Wisconsin's trip to Indianapolis for the conference title game.
Both Purdue and Illinois are 0-4 in the Big Ten, and Wisconsin has beaten each team. That leaves only the Hoosiers to challenge Wisconsin because Penn State and Ohio State are ineligible for the postseason thanks to NCAA sanctions.
Yes, a 7-2 overall record sounds better than 6-3 for Wisconsin. But the Badgers still have a conference crown in their sights.
"This group after what we've been through early in the year really felt they were on a mission to kind of get to a special place," Bielema said. "Those things are still in front of us. All the options that we had before today are still there as far as getting to where we want to be. We just like winning."
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