Wisconsin Badgers were set to be part of the national championship conversation this week. All they had to do was take care of business against Illinois. They were favored by 30.5 points, therefore, it seemed easy enough. Beat the Illini, and they’re going into a top 10 battle with Ohio State. That did not happen. Rather, Wisconsin completely choked down the stretch blowing a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter to let Illinois kick a game-winning field goal to beat Wisconsin in a stunning upset, 24-23.

Player of the Game: Reggie Corbin – He didn’t even have that great of a stat line with 83 yards, 17 carries and a touchdown yet he felt like a difference-maker all game long. Corbin looked scary every time he touched the ball against Wisconsin. To me, we might have seen a weakness in this Badgers defense. Fast, shifty running backs gave them some trouble. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who has watched Wisconsin for the last decade.

Honorable Mention: Jack Coan – Here’s the fucked up thing about this football game. Coan should have thrown the football even more! He threw 32 times for 262, but honestly, he should have let it fly a few more times in this game. He was the best player on Wisconsin’s roster for this game. Coan lit it up against a bad Illini defense. Paul Chryst robbed him of that opportunity late in the game. This is still a breakout game for him.

The Thing I Didn’t Like: 20-yard field goals in the fourth don’t win games – Call me crazy, but thought the Badgers might be in trouble when they took a field goal up six versus trying to go for it on fourth down from the two. First of all, they ran three milquetoast plays with dives up the middle versus trying to put the offensive line in space. Two fullback dives and one dive with Taylor. Again, they did not like Coan throw the ball either and try to find Jake Ferguson. Badgers should have won this football game.

The Other Thing I Didn’t Like: Taylor and Coan’s turnovers late are haunting – Badgers could have easily won this game. Taylor fumbled the ball close to the red zone. Wisconsin could have easily knocked that lead to 12 or 16. Coan turns the ball over to give Illinois to short turf versus Anthony Lotti pinning them deep for a final drive. This is an all-time choke for Wisconsin. This is not usually how they lose games. They melted down in the worst way.

Next up: Wisconsin gets set to face their toughest task of the year, Ohio State. This could be the best team in college football. They’re kicking everyone’s asses. Now, Wisconsin does have a noticeable chip on their shoulder and maybe they could keep it close yet it’s hard to think they can win this football game.

Charlie.