“We can’t get off the field. Come off of the field — finally. Try to make adjustments," Bachie said. "Our offense has no rhythm because of how long we were on the field. They go three-and-out. We’re punting, we’re back off the sidelines for another 15-play drive. Defensively, we have to be a lot better. We have to be a lot better. We know that."

Wisconsin had scored on its opening drive in every game this season — up until MSU. The Spartans benefited off of uncharacteristic mistakes, a holding call to negate a long run and a fumble in the backfield by quarterback Jack Coan, to force a punt.

As MSU's offense struggled to pick up a first down, let alone move the ball against the Badgers, the Spartan defense had trouble simply getting off the field.

From there, it was downhill.

On Wisconsin's second offensive possession, the Badgers moved the ball into MSU territory, only to be held to a crucial fourth down play. On fourth-and-2 from the Spartan 28, Coan connected with tight end Jake Ferguson when MSU used all of its attention towards junior running back Jonathan Taylor and left Ferguson alone down the middle. If it wasn't for a stumble before getting to the goal line, Ferguson would've walked into the end zone.

Taylor cleaned up the mess from 1-yard out on the following play to give the Badgers a 7-0 lead.

“We knew Jonathan Taylor wasn’t an every down back," senior linebacker Tyriq Thompson said. "We failed defending the run and the pass overall, regardless of who was in there. That’s just something we didn’t do well today.” 

The Spartans, for the most part, kept Taylor in check aside from a couple of chunk plays and two touchdowns from the goal line. But, what they forgot about was the ability that Coan and the rest of Wisconsin's supporting cast has.

On the Badgers' next possession, they marched on an 11-play, 75-yard drive, that included two third down conversions and one fourth down conversion, before Coan connected with Quintez Cephus on a 19-yard touchdown.

Collin Larsh added a 29-yard field goal to give Wisconsin a quick 17-0 lead.

At that point, the Spartans still felt they could make a run at getting back into the game. It wasn't until a 21-point fourth quarter that made them realize that they were outmatched.

“I didn't feel like we were in trouble the whole game until the fourth when they busted a few," senior defensive lineman Raequan Williams said. "I didn’t feel like we were in trouble the whole game until they broke those long ones when there was like, 10 minutes left. I was like ‘Oh (explicative)'."

By then, the long drives had settled into MSU's defensive legs. The lack of support from the offense piled on, and a 17-0 deficit ballooned into a 38-0 blowout.

A 15-play, 92-yard drive that lasted almost eight minutes, and ended in Taylor's second rushing touchdown gave Wisconsin a 24-0 lead and took all of the life out of MSU's defense. After fifth-year quarterback Brian Lewerke threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, the Badgers scored on its next offensive play, on a 66-yard run off of a jet sweep from Kendric Pryor.

Pryor busted through multiple arm tackles and sprinted down the sideline to give Wisconsin a 38-0 lead. It was a route.

The Spartan defense has faulted over the past three games, giving up 103 points combined against Indiana, Ohio State and now Wisconsin. Williams said this week's bye week will give the defense a chance to reset.

They have to. Because, their next opponent is no slouch either.

"... We got to do better. We got to do better as a team." Bachie said. "We know that, we’re going to watch this film Monday and the beauty of it, we got another top 10 team next week.”