Wisconsin seemingly had all the ingredients to pull off a stunning upset and finally notch Luke Fickell's first signature win, but couldn't make enough plays down the stretch in a gut-wrenching loss to drop the team to 5-5.

BadgerBlitz.com has grades and game balls from Wisconsin's 16-13 loss to the No. 1 team in the nation.

Don't let how close this game was fool you — this was yet another awful offensive performance by Wisconsin. Yes, Oregon has an elite defense. But what will be haunting about this game for a long time is that if the Badgers even had a slightly competent offense, they likely would've won.

Everything was handed to them. A team that hadn't scored under 30 points since the opener struggled to muster 16. And still, even that was too much to ask for this unit.

Wisconsin generated just 226 yards of offense. It went three-and-out five times, nearly half of its drives. It converted just 1-for-12 third down attempts. But there was a larger, glaring issue that's been apparent for weeks: the Badgers' quarterback simply caps this offense's ceiling.

Braedyn Locke had a few nice moments, like his picturesque deep ball to Vinny Anthony that went for 43 yards. Still, his performance ultimately did little to alter the overwhelming perception that he's not the man for the job in 2025 or beyond. He completed a dismal 43 percent of his passes for just 96 yards. He threw one pick but should've had another on the Badgers' second drive. He had a handful of balls batted at the line of scrimmage, the last one fittingly ending the game as it found the arms of defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei to put the upset bid on ice. Locke wasn't clutch at the end of the game, but he was far from passable prior to that. With the game in Locke's hands and Wisconsin trailing with one last shot, the outcome felt like a forgone conclusion.

After it looked like the ground game was going to be stuck in the mud for the third straight outing, the Badgers finally found some room by altering their running concepts and allowing Tawee Walker to work more to the outside. Now, 130 team rushing yards is far from a successful performance running the ball when you wear the Motion 'W', but give Walker credit for amassing 97 yards on a tough 4.9 yards-per-carry. He truly earned every yard on that stat sheet Saturday night against a fundamental, physical Oregon font seven.

The offensive line deserves some credit for finding its rhythm after it looked like it was getting manhandled for a third straight week. While it found push at times, however, it wasn't enough to control the line of scrimmage from start to finish. Pass protection was shoddy at best, as Locke was under pressure regularly. Right tackle Riley Mahlman allowed two sacks in one-on-one situations, one to Uiagalelei and one to Brandon Johnson.

Again, this unit had some flashes, but the dysfunction remains readily apparent on this side of the ball. After Wisconsin kicked a field goal on its second drive of the second half to go up 13-6, it gained a combined total of 0 yards on its ensuing four drives. Only ever down six points, and down just three and given an extra chance to drive the field following an ill-advised fake field goal, the Badgers couldn't generate a single first down.