Inconsistent UW eyes improvement down the stretch

MADISON – The chance of reaching the College Football Playoff was eliminated with a double-digit loss at Michigan.

Now Wisconsin’s goal of winning the Big Ten West Division has been put on life support thanks to a double-digit loss at Northwestern.

With lowly Rutgers (1-7, 0-5 Big Ten) set to visit UW (5-3, 3-2) this week, how emotionally invested will Paul Chryst’s players be given the circumstances?

“I don’t think it will be hard at all because of the kind of kids we have in the locker room,” right tackle David Edwards said, “and the coaches we have in the building.

“I am very confident we’re going to get better.”

According to senior linebacker Ryan

Connelly, the topic was addressed immediately after the loss in the locker room.

“What Coach Chryst said is ‘You can let it sting but you’ve got to let the sting fuel you moving forward. You can’t just let it sting and do nothing about it.’ Connelly said.

“You don’t want to let this be the start of a snowball downhill.”

A loss to Rutgers might cause an avalanche.

The Scarlet Knights have lost seven consecutive games since opening with a 35-7 victory over Texas State. They have been outscored, 263-86, in the seven losses.

The only close games were a sevenpoint loss to Indiana and a three-point loss to Northwestern.

Rutgers is last in the Big Ten in scoring offense (15.1 points per game) 13th in scoring defense (33.8), last in total offense (269.9 yards per game) and 11th in total defense (407.5).

Freshman quarterback Artur Sitkowski has completed just 49.5 percent of his passes and has 15 interceptions in 208 attempts. That is one interception every 13.9 passes.

Chryst was asked after the Northwestern loss about the role the captains/seniors must play in preventing a late-season slide.

“They’ve got experience and they’ve got substance to them,” he said. “This isn’t the first bump that we’ve had and, quite honestly, I’m proud of the way some of our leaders are leading.

“And we’re going to continue to lean on them.”

UW lost nose tackle Olive Sagapolu (right arm) and left tackle Cole Van Lanen (left foot) at Northwestern and will once again be dealing with injury issues.

UW’s players have to ignore the injuries and shake off the disappointment of missing a huge chance to control of the division.

“I’m shocked,” wide receiver Kendric Pryor said. “I know we can play better than we have in the losses. I know we’re a better team than that.”

Fullback Alec Ingold added:

“We have a good team and it’s tough not playing good ball. You have all the talent and you have all the guys who are working hard and you’re doing all the right things, but there is really no answer right now.”

Injuries have decimated the defense, and the special teams continue to commit penalties that cost UW valuable real estate.

The offense continues to struggle to sustain drives and has converted just 9 of 31 third-down chances in the last three games, two of which were losses.

“I think we have to be more consistent,” Edwards said. “The highs we have week in and week out are pretty high. But the lows are low.

“We have to clean up the things that just kill us. The penalties, the negative yards, the sacks, the hurries … the things you can control.”