Football

Charlie Healy

ORLANDO, FL – Disappointing, underachieving, unimpressive. That not only describes the Badger’s season-ending loss in the Champs Sports Bowl, but also the season as a whole. After finishing the season on a positive note with three straight wins, Wisconsin was tossed around like a rag-doll by a much quicker and more athletic Florida State team 42-13 in the Sunshine State. 

The game was a home game for Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles, as their fan’s accounted for about 80% of the record-setting crowd of 52,692. The attendance total was the highest ever in the bowl’s eight year tenure in Orlando, and second-highest behind the inaugural event in 1990 held in Miami. If it weren’t for the fact “Wisconsin” was painted in one end zone and the Champs Sports Bowl logo painted at mid-field, Badger fans would have thought they were in Tallahassee, not Orlando. 

The only signs of Camp Randall were a small corner of red-clad Badger fans, “Jump Around” in between the 3rd and 4th quarters, and the Wisconsin Band’s pregame, halftime, and 5^th Quarter performances.  

For the Badger fans that made the trip, the game is one they hope to soon forget. The first 29 minutes of the first half featured a great defensive battle, with Florida State’s lone score coming off of a fumble recovered for a touchdown.  

With 40 seconds left in the half, down 7-3, UW punted the ball, and Florida State scored just 33 seconds later on 4 plays for 47 yards. That touchdown would be the first of 5 straight possessions in which FSU scored a touchdown, and UW only could score a field goal. It didn’t help that 2 of touchdown drives started because of fumbles.  

Down 42-6 with 4:06 left in the game, the Badger offense finally scored a touchdown, bringing the score to 42-13, though it was a case of too-little-too-late for UW. 

There isn’t much more about this game that can be said. Every aspect of the team underperformed tonight, making for a depressing scene in the Badger’s corner of the stadium. The game fit the season well though, as things got off to a strong start, then a few little mistakes seemed to send things spinning off course.  

      Bret Bielema and company have a lot of work to do this winter and spring to help get this program back on track. Badger fans certainly won’t accept another mediocre year, much less anything worse. A down year here and there can be accepted, but certainly not 2 years in a row. 

      In the meantime, we shift our attention to the Kohl Center, and Wisconsin Basketball and Hockey!