Badgers carry momentum of ‘November to remember’ into Big Ten title game
December 04, 2019 | Football, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
Midseason challenges led to the Badgers playing their best when it counted the most
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — After closing out October with a whimper — back-to-back losses at Illinois and Ohio State, the first defeats of Wisconsin's season — it would have been damaging, and maybe even understandable for some players to lose confidence and question what they were doing and how they were doing it.
"Once you have second thoughts and doubts, you bring the energy level down and it can kind of have a snowball effect, so you have to fight against that," said tailback Jonathan Taylor, who along with his teammates never wavered on the commitment to having a November to remember. Why not?
"It was the energy at practices. You would think after those two losses that the energy would be low and guys would be quiet. But the guys were flying around and trying to keep the energy levels up because we knew that's what was going to keep this team rolling."
Not many probably saw the November 2 scheduling bye as a bridge from a two-game losing streak to winning four straight against West Division opponents. But the Badgers took that road to Saturday's Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis and a rematch with the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes.
"This is just a resilient group, a tough-minded group of guys that understood exactly where they were at," said UW strength and conditioning coach Ross Kolodziej, "Despite where we sat (3-2 in the Big Ten), we still knew it really came back to doing what we do."
By working hard and focusing on details, Kolodziej was content with "letting everything else fall where it may," like Minnesota stumbling at Iowa (Nov. 16) and re-opening the door for Wisconsin after the Gophers had taken a two-game division lead at the end of October.
"Coming out of the bye," Kolodziej said, "we knew that we had all division games. You really didn't need to manufacture or try to create anything else. We have great leadership … and all those guys did a great job of communicating to the group."
In this context, Kolodziej singled out Jonathan Taylor, A.J. Taylor, Chris Orr, Tyler Biadasz and Zack Baun, who took a very pragmatic approach to the schedule by breaking down the season in thirds based on the two byes. The first one was on September 14, the Saturday before the Michigan game.
"Ending our second third with two losses," Baun said, "we used the second bye week to re-evaluate where we were at individually and as a team — as a defense and an offense, every aspect of our game. Then we knew the opportunity we had in front of us was to gain what we wanted back.
"And that was to win November while continuing to get better."
Baun admitted the road trips to Champaign and Columbus spawned questions.
"You lose two games and you're like, 'Are we really doing everything necessary? What are we doing differently? What were we doing in these two weeks that we weren't doing before? What were we doing so well at the beginning of the season to play the way we were playing?'"
Even head coach Paul Chryst confessed Monday, "Wasn't sure that we'd be playing this week."
The UW head coach went on to note that "You want it to go perfect … it seldom does." But he was proud of his players' "response to self-analysis" upon taking a step back and the time to catch their breath during the bye week and leading up to the Iowa game.
It all reinforced his belief in this team. One of Chryst's favorite authors is Andy Andrews, who wrote "The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success." Chryst had players read the book during a previous offseason, and he's fond of quoting select passages when warranted.
"Coach talked a lot recently about having a 'decided heart,'" said Baun, interpreting it to mean being steadfast in your decision-making and pursuits. "We will do this and we will get it done."
Vision will lead to reality, a tenet in the book.
"We all trust in each other and we trust in the coaches," Baun said. "So, you have to play your heart out every game and each game will get more important than the next leading up to this opportunity (Big Ten title game). We continued to improve all November.
"The bye week really helped us to go back and re-evaluate what we were doing."
There was some newfound clarity in bouncing back from defeat.
"The losses spoke a lot to us," said left tackle Cole Van Lanen. "We knew that we weren't playing our football and we just needed a week to collect ourselves and understand, 'This is it' and we knew that we had to do everything we could over the next four games.
"In the first part of the season, it showed how good we can play when we put it all together — when we played with confidence, when we played with emotion. I don't want to say we lost that a little bit, but we obviously didn't play with that as much for a couple of games.
"But we've battled back really well and I think that we're playing close to our best football … what really helped was the trophy games, the rivalry games. They really kicked us in gear. Against Iowa, we were juiced and ready to go."
On November 9, the Badgers beat the Hawkeyes to spark their late-season run.
There was no margin for error. "We were at a point," Baun said, "where if we lost one game and didn't play up to Wisconsin's standard, our chances to do what we wanted were minimized."
The Badgers outscored Nebraska and Purdue despite struggling defensively.
"There were a lot of ups and downs," conceded Baun. "A lot of those big plays that were made were mistakes on our part whether it was a missed alignment, not communicating, or a lot of missed tackles. We had to focus on the little things and get back to how we play football."
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— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) December 4, 2019
It all fell into place Saturday during a convincing 38-17 win at Minnesota.
"We gave up something early and really didn't give up much more after that," said senior linebacker Chris Orr, referencing Minnesota jumping out to a 7-0 lead with a 51-yard touchdown pass on its second offensive play. "We definitely showed some resiliency."
The Gophers had been averaging 35.9 points per game, the program's highest average in 16 years. They had outscored Big Ten opponents 294-143 while passing for a school-record 26 touchdowns and rushing for 24. The Badgers held them to 17 points, their lowest scoring output of the season.
"This is when championships are on the line, this is big boy football, the month of November," enthused linebacker Jack Sanborn. "Who's the more resilient group? You're deep into the season, both teams are going to have injuries. Who's going to be the one still pushing that extra bit to keep going?"
It was clearly the Badgers. Defensively, they controlled the line of scrimmage.
"Come November," said redshirt junior Isaiahh Loudermilk, "you do have to flip your mindset. A season can be made in November. It's Big Ten ball, it's 'gotta' win games. It's pretty much a mentality. If a game slips away (i.e. Illinois), November is your time to get things back in order."
Garrett Rand had a career-high seven tackles, including a sack and forced fumble, while Loudermilk had four tackles. Meanwhile, Wisconsin's offensive line did such a terrific job protecting quarterback Jack Coan that the Minnesota pass rush rarely got a sniff of Coan (zero sacks). The numbers reflected the time that he had in the pocket and his accuracy: Coan was 15-of-22 for 280 yards and two scores.
"We've got a lot of guys on this team who can make plays," said Coan, who cited the importance of playing complementary football as units. "We're not always going to score on every possession, but if we can get a few first downs it flips the field and makes it easier on the defense."
The diversity of Wisconsin's offensive attack was striking, though.
"We're using our talents to the fullest," said Biadasz. "Our coaching staff knows how talented our group is and it's just getting them in the best position to succeed. That is the plan all the time. Coach Chryst says, 'We can give you a great game plan, but it's us that creates the magic to bring it to life.'"
November magic.
"They've instilled in us that November is when you have to be playing your best football," reiterated wide receiver Quintez Cephus, who caught five passes for 114 yards and a TD. "We work with that in mind knowing we have to turn it up. The best teams separate themselves in November."
Once again, the Badgers proved to be the best in the West.
"I definitely bought into it — a November to remember — that's what everyone was saying," said cornerback Caesar Williams, who broke up four passes and had an interception against Minnesota. "Each week in November is more and more important. If you keep winning, the bigger the game gets."
None bigger than Saturday's championship game against Ohio State.
"We've seen them up-close — schematically and personnel-wise," Kolodziej said. "Will they have a new wrinkle or two? Absolutely. But they're going to do what they do and we need to do what we do.
"It comes down to executing and playing our brand of football. Smart, tough, physical football."
The formula worked in November. Why not December?
