Maybe if we consider this a rebuilding year, it won't be so painful. We certainly have to readjust our expectations after Saturday's horrible loss at Penn State. The Badgers fell to the Lions 38-7 (ouch – it hurts to just type it!) in a totally discouraging game, where neither the offense nor the defense could get anything going. The game began with a fumble by P.J. Hill that set up PSU's first touchdown, the first of 3 first-half turnovers, and didn't get any better after that. With the loss, the Badgers fall out of the top 25 in both polls for the first time this season. When asked why the Badgers punted with about 30 seconds on the clock in the first half, with PSU up by 17 and the Badgers on the PSU 34 yard line, 4th and 6, Bielema indicated that he was concerned about putting the defense back on the field and the Melhaff was uncomfortable with the length of the kick. As some have pointed out, this is in stark contrast to last season, where Bielema was always eager to score. Bielema also sees lack of senior leadership as a problem. At his weekly press conference, he said "of our 22 offensive and defensive starters this past weekend, only three were seniors, something that we didn't foresee at the beginning of the year. Offensively, losing Crooks, Hubbard and Swan dwindled our numbers there, and then defensively, we only were going to start one senior projected coming in with Nick Hayden." Speaking of Paul Hubbard, he has been cleared for practice and the WSJ indicates that he may even play this weekend. Bright spots from last weekend? Freshman Kyle Jefferson had another great game, with a career-high 6 receptions for 124 receiving yards. And Travis Beckum continues to lead the nation's tight ends with 46 catches and 555 yards. This weekend, Wisconsin is the early favorite by a whopping 23.5 over Northern Illinois University. The Badgers will take on the Huskies at noon EDT on Saturday. The game will only be available over the Big Ten Network so if you don't have satellite and want to watch, why not join us at Rookies? For directions, go to: http://www.rookiesrocks.com/directions.php. Lee Evans Ties the Knot In other Badger news, during this past bye weekend for the Buffalo Bills, former Badger Lee Evans got married. Evans married a Wisconsin native that he has known since his college days at the University. She is a Wisconsin native. NFL Trades Chris Chambers was traded this week to the San Diego Chargers while Michael Bennett went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Whey Above the Rest?
Student-Athletes at Wisconsin have a new sports drink to help them recover quicker after games and rejuvenate after workouts. Made exclusively by UW's Babcock Dairy Plant, the "Recovery Drink" contains protein from whey, a byproduct of cheese production and comes in orange and strawberry flavors. That's it for this week! On Wisconsin! Jean Oliva UW Alumni Club of CT and Western MA Edit | 
