Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/45735
Moving on can be worst part of tough loss BEHIND THE DESK BARRY ALVAREZ • UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS fter that Hail Mary play last Saturday at Michigan State, someone wanted to know what was my most gut- wrenching loss as a head coach at Wisconsin. A That was probably the 1996 home game against Northwestern when Ron Dayne fumbled after the game was over — or it looked liked the game was over. That was as tough as any. That was a game that we had in the bank; a game we're going to win. We were leading 30-27 with about a minute and a half left and we've got the ball on our own 38. No one will take a knee faster than me. But we couldn't run out the clock. We had to run the ball and get a first down or line up and punt the ball to Northwestern with time remaining. The percentages are better handing the ball off than snap- ping for a punt on fourth down. After Ronnie gained seven on a first-down run, what we should have done is run a quarterback sneak with Mike Samuel. We could have probably run two sneaks and got the first down. On second down, we handed it to Ronnie — someone missed a block and flashed in front of him and he never got the ball in his hands. Northwestern recovered the fumble. Two plays later, they scored the game-winning touchdown and it's 12 » VARSITY OCTOBER 27, 2011 over just like that; except it was really just beginning because the fumble took a life of its own. One analyst, Gary Danielson, criticized my strategy and time- management for not taking a knee. Lee Corso then said that I should be fired. Neither of them had the facts, and that really upset me. By the time the kids come in Tuesday, everybody has to have that last game out of their system and be zeroed in on the next opponent. You reinforce that with your captains and seniors. Nick Saban, who was coaching at Michigan State, came to my defense, pointing out that if we had taken a knee on three straight snaps, we would have still been punting the ball to Northwestern. Saban agreed with me that there was a greater risk from a high snap or a blocked punt than a quarterback-tailback exchange. And if I had to do it again, I would still give it to Ron Dayne. How does a head coach handle a tough loss like that? I talked with Bret about that Sunday be- cause everybody is going to follow his lead; everybody is going to be watching him. I know that I've faked it pretty good for a week. Sometimes a game like that sticks in your craw. You can't sleep at night; you're rolling and tossing and thinking about things you could have done or should have done to prevent it. But you have to make sure when people see you that you have a different face painted on. By the time the kids come in Tuesday, everybody has to have that last game out of their system and be zeroed in on the next op- ponent. You reinforce that with your captains and seniors. This isn't a week to pamper anybody; this isn't a week to beat anybody up. It's about consisten- cy. You have to teach, you have to correct and you have to get your focus on the next game. You have to let the players know they're going to be coached up and they still control their des- tiny and can accomplish a great deal. You have to get their atten- tion and get them ready to play. Look, it's tough to run the table in college football because you're going to have games where you're not hitting on all cylinders or games when stuff happens and you have to overcome it. Good teams bounce back. Bret has a good team.