BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — D'Cota Dixon will be going back to where it really all began for him. Corey Clement will be going back to take care of some unfinished business.
Along with their Wisconsin teammates, Dixon and Clement will be going back to AT&T Stadium — deep in the heart of Texas — to mend a broken one at the Cotton Bowl Classic.
After losing to Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game Saturday night, a heartbreaking 38-31 loss, the Badgers will be going back to their season-long blueprint: team unity and resilience.
"This journey isn't done yet for this team," stressed outside linebacker Vince Biegel.
Wisconsin has drawn an unbeaten opponent. Maybe it's not the one (Alabama) that fans had fantasized that they would draw, but Western Michigan (13-0) is deserving of its New Year's Six inclusion.
The Badgers must now prove they want to be there after setting their sights on winning the conference title and potentially going back to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 2013.
"I'm pretty sure this team loves competition," Clement wagered. "Whatever we're up against, we're willing to forget about the past and just focus on the now."
As far as not dwelling on the loss to the Nittany Lions, he added, "This one is definitely in the past now. We know that we have one more guaranteed game and we have to make the most out of it."
That was echoed by one Wisconsin player after another. Build. Don't tear down.
"This (Penn State) game is a waste if we don't learn from it and come back and work harder," said inside linebacker Ryan Connelly, who acknowledged feeling a little numb. He wasn't alone.
"Everyone was kind of frustrated. Everyone was consoling everyone. The theme was, 'It's a tough loss, but let's try and keep our heads up, let's keep our pride.'
"Everyone has been saying — and it's kind of our motto — we've worked too hard this year to let one loss define our season. Everyone wants to end the season with a bowl win no matter what."
There was a reality to what happened Saturday night. And, that is, over time, it happens to everyone. It was just so unexpected the way it happened to one of the best defenses in college football.
"Football is one of those games where you can have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and tonight it just didn't work out in our favor," said Dixon in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Now, you have to have the courage in this situation to look at the film and go over the corrections and understand the corrections and the mistakes and what we could have done better."
The Cotton Bowl Classic provides a stage for redemption.
"Most importantly, it will be the next chapter for the seniors, the last game, a chance to get the bad taste out of our mouth," said Biegel, who put the NFL on hold to come back as a fifth-year senior.
"These are the games you come back for. I'm proud of the ups and downs that we've come through this season. Obviously, this is one of the downs, but it doesn't take away from a great season."
Nor does it take away from accepting responsibility.
"I think our defense played a great first half of football (against Penn State) and a second half that was not our best," said Biegel, who had eight tackles, tying Connelly for the team high.
"If I had to say what the mood was in the locker room, I would say it was obviously disappointed — a disappointing feeling because we felt that it was a game that we could win.
"This is the type of loss that we can learn from and we have to learn from."
The loss of defensive tackles Conor Sheehy and Alec James carried some weight to whatever degree. Both were injured in the Minnesota win and didn't play against the Nittany Lions.
The D-line is an overlooked but critical element to the success of the linebackers and secondary. This has been a "sum of its parts" defense. And obviously some key parts/pieces were missing.
Not one player used that as an excuse, though, for the second-half meltdown.
"As a team, as a player, you don't want to show panic," Dixon said. "You want to be composed, you want to stay positive, you always want to shed light on any situation because there's always light.
"It's about having faith in the moment even when it doesn't look good. It's a four-quarter football game. If we get beat on one play, so what? You get up and just keep playing.
"You don't always have the answers. But it only takes one play."
The Badgers made most of the plays in taking a 28-7 lead. That included a 12-yard touchdown by Connelly on a fumble return after Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley couldn't handle a bad snap.
After a defensive stop on a fourth-and-1, Wisconsin had the ball on the PSU 43 with 3:25 left in the first half. This loomed as a chance to not only add points but maybe deliver a knockout punch.
But after a three-and-out and an Anthony Lotti punt, downed on the PSU 10, a cool, calm and collected McSorley engineered an eight-play, 90-yard scoring drive. That reversed the momentum.
"We were flying pretty high," Connelly said, "and for them to score like that, I don't want to say it just killed us, but it took a little juice out of us going into the locker room."
It snowballed in the third and fourth quarter. From a different perspective, Wisconsin's defense was on the other side of such a dramatic momentum swing against Illinois and Minnesota.
The Badgers picked off Illinois' Jeff George Jr. four times in the first half. They picked off Minnesota's Mitch Leidner four times in the second half. Now they were getting a dose of their own medicine from McSorley.
"It's frustrating, you kind of feel helpless," said Connelly. "There were a couple of plays out there I wish I could have done more. But sometimes it just doesn't go your way."
McSorley was nearly flawless in completing 10 of 11 passes for 211 yards in the second half. He got knocked around physically, too, but he continued to make plays in the pocket.
"They were kind of figuring us out and they did a good job of picking us up (on the blitz)," Connelly said. "There were a lot of quick passes, too, and we didn't have a lot of time to get to him."
Despite Penn State's momentum, the Badgers still had an opportunity to get the game into overtime on a determined 10-play, 51-yard drive that left them with a fourth-and-1 on the PSU 24.
Starting quarterback Bart Houston completed passes of 16 yards to Jazz Peavy, 10 yards to Dare Ogunbowale and 13 yards to Clement to keep the chains moving.
On a third-and-6, Houston connected with tight end Troy Fumagalli on a pass completion that was limited to just 5 yards by cornerback Grant Haley, who came up quickly and made the stop.
The Badgers burned the first of their timeouts with 65 seconds remaining. Plenty of time if they could keep the drive alive.
Through the first 12 games of the season, the Badgers had converted 55 percent on fourth down, albeit a short sample size (6-of-11). On this occasion, Clement was stopped for no gain.
"I was pretty confident," said Clement, who matched his career high with 164 rushing yards, including a 67-yard touchdown, marking the seventh time in the last eight games that he went over 100.
"I saw that they were stacked in the middle and, immediately, I'm not going up the middle because that's where the most penetration is going to be. I should have been able to get a yard."
But he didn't. Haley, who had the scoop-and-score on the blocked kick in the Ohio State upset, played through the fullback's block and made the defensive stop along with safety Marcus Allen.
"They put a lot of guys in the box and they're good players," said center Michael Deiter, "and we were a little off there and a little off here. Corey gave us a chance to win and we just fell short of it."
The Badgers were 14-1 when Clement rushed for at least 100 yards.
"This doesn't define the season," Deiter said. "We have another game to play. We can be better and that's something we have to take to heart and make sure we do. We just have to be a little better."
In the 2015 season opener, the Badgers took on Alabama at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Dixon was just hoping to be a contributor on special teams after taking a medical redshirt as a freshman.
But after safety Michael Caputo was dazed and had to come out of the game, Dixon took over at safety and acquitted himself well with nine tackles in his baptism to big-time football.
Dixon should have some fond memories, save the outcome. Clement won't. Injured the week of the game, he had only eight carries for 16 yards. He came out after his first rush of the second half.
Those will be two of the individual storylines for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
The seniors will be another. With a 40-13 record, this class is one victory away from having the most wins in a four-year period in school history, topping the 2007 (40-12) and 2012 classes (40-14).
How will the Badgers treat their matchup with Western Michigan?
"We're going to attack it full strength," Biegel promised.
There was never any doubt.
