Madison — Saturday was eye-opening for Wisconsin. The 15-6 loss to a major rival hurt enough, but Tanner Mordecai going down “indefinitely” is the kind of loss that forces an offense to reevaluate its identity.

All we know is that Braelon Allen is expected to carry a heavier load, and Braedyn Locke will carry a mountain of pressure. Both of their successes will depend largely on the offensive line, which has been perhaps the most inconsistent unit on offense.

They’ve played a major role in Wisconsin’s rushing success, and have mostly kept Mordecai protected. But their recurring mental mistakes represent an inconsistency that’s plagued the offense all year, and reared its head against Iowa.

“There was no flow of anything,” Luke Fickell said after the game.

Momentum was rare for both offenses, and Wisconsin lost its almost immediately.

UW opened the day with an 11-play, 81-yard drive that ended with a failed fourth down attempt on Iowa’s 13. The Badgers followed that series with four straight three-and-outs, and only returned to the red zone once.

“We had that first drive and things were really going well and we’re moving the ball, which is just a great feeling, and you’re getting into that rhythm all of a sudden,” said starting tackle Jack Nelson. “But we have a penalty on that [3rd] and 1, and that kinda kills the momentum.”

On the unsuccessful 4th-and-1 that ended the drive, Tucker Ashcraft misread his blocking assignment and allowed Cooper DeJean to stop Allen almost instantly.

In addition to the missed blocks, the Badgers were consistently called for penalties on crucial third and fourth downs, resulting in less rhythm and even worse field position. Of Wisconsin’s five penalties on Saturday, three were called on offensive linemen.

“On offense you need 11 guys doing the right thing every time. If you go back and watch the game, there’s one or two small mistakes on every play that cost us,” said center Tanor Bortolini. “Every play it just seems like someone did something that if that happens, we have a huge play.”

Nelson partially attributed some of these ongoing mistakes to the offensive line’s “growing pains” as the result of new offensive coaches, personnel and schemes. There’s no telling how long these problems will endure, but the path to improvement for this offensive line is far from linear. They had perhaps their best performance all season a week ago against Rutgers, then played their worst against Iowa.

“You need 11 guys working in conjunction for an offense to flow,” guard Trey Wedig said. “It’s just coming together as a team and saying, ‘We need to cut the s***.’”

On top of trying to fix some of these woes, the offensive line will have the tall task of protecting a quarterback in his first game starting.

“We gotta put him on our back,” Nelson said of Locke. “That’s not to say he can’t handle it or anything like that, but it’s his first start here and I know that’s a little nerve wracking… We’re there to protect him.”

Locke finished Saturday with just 122 yards and an interception while completing 50% of his passes, but Mordecai didn’t fare much better prior to his injury. Nelson, Bortolini and Wedig were all ultimately impressed with how the redshirt freshman stepped up in such a tough situation.

Locke’s first game starting may seem like just another Big Ten matchup, but there’s an added wrinkle for any players who were on last year’s team. Last October, the Bret Bielema-led Fighting Illini came to Camp Randall and stunned the Badgers, winning 34-10. Long-time coach Paul Chryst was fired the next day.

Nelson described the upcoming matchup as “absolutely, 100% personal”.

“I remember that game, it was a terrible feeling. It definitely adds another layer to it,” Nelson said. “That loss, that feeling is still in the back of my head.”

The big mystery for Saturday will be the extent to which the offensive identity changes transitioning from Mordecai to Locke. Luckily for Locke, Phil Longo’s offense has always emphasized the run. But it could become the absolute lifeblood of the new offense.

“Running the ball is something Wisconsin has always prided itself on, so if we have to run the ball, I think as an offensive line and an offense, it’s something we’re more than happy and very familiar with doing,” said Bortolini.

Regardless of whatever direction the offense moves toward, the line knows that the actual nature of their job is rarely subject to change. All the schematic and stylistic details simply revolve around them. Run, pass, i-formation, spread formation, the job remains the same — block.

“All I know is that if we run the ball, I’m gonna be going, and if we pass the ball, I’m gonna be going,” said Wedig.

It may seem as if all offensive success is dependent on the backfield, and maybe even some of the receivers. But they simply can’t succeed without consistent, mistake-free football from the men up front.

"So those are the things where you say, who do we turn towards, who's gonna be the spark?” Fickell said Monday. “Let's be honest. Tanner Mordecai was a leader...This is an opportunity where we kinda have to have other guys step out of their comfort zones and take a leadership role."

Wisconsin has always been a program that lives and dies by their offensive line. This year is no different.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook