COLUMBUS - To peel back the curtain a little bit, reporters have the chance each Saturday to request players to speak with post-game. A member of Wisconsin's communications asks media members who they would like to speak with.
By the end of the line, the list goes on for at least a dozen or so players. Against Ohio State, it was no different.
After head coach Paul Chryst went over critical turning points in the game, reporters waited in the visiting press room to speak with players.
In an unprecedented move, Wisconsin's three captains - quarterback Graham Mertz, outside linebacker Nick Herbig and defensive tackle Keeanu Benton - walked out with UW's sports information director. Each took their place at a table that had three chairs evenly spaced out in front of an Ohio State backdrop.
The move was agreed upon by the three in a move to represent the team.
"Three seats for the three captains right here," Herbig said to open things. "This was our idea. Being captains of this football team, you got to take full responsibility of this loss. I wouldn’t want to be with any other group of guys."
The necessity of a rally will come just two weeks after Benton felt the need to light a fire under the team after a flat energy in the second half against Washington State. After a deflating loss to open conference play, the captains will be tasked with getting the team back on track.
"We came out to fight and that’s what we were doing," Benton said. "It just so happened the score looked like it did. I still wouldn’t want to go to war with any other group of guys. This is my team and this is what we do so we going to have to keep fighting."
When asked how the team can rally after the disappointing start, Benton put it on the captains' shoulders to right the ship.
"Staying together," Benton said on the key to rallying. "We are the heart of our team right now. We got to keep these guys in a straight path to success."
The silver lining, if any, is that the defeat came in the first game of conference play. Now for the Badgers, seven games stand in front of them before a matchup with Minnesota on Nov. 26. The Gophers are a perfect 4-0 on the season and have separated themselves as the team to beat in the Big Ten West.
Each game should represent a winnable game for the Badgers with contests on the road at Michigan State and Iowa not nearly as daunting as they seemed coming into the season.
"Obviously you have to win games," Mertz said of program needs to do to turn things around. "That’s the obvious thing. For us on the player level, how can we do our job to go out there and set us up for success? Everything that we want is still out there for us to get and these three up there are going to make sure that happens."
"Fans -- everybody -- feels pain after that," Mertz added. "Who do you think feels it the most and who do you think is going to use it as fuel the most. There is no team that is going the respond the way that we do this week. We’re going to learn from it."
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