Badgers have taken a clear step back

Common sense suggests a returning Heisman Trophy finalist at running back ought to touch the ball with his team trailing in the fourth quarter, badly needing one yard on fourth down.Then again, plenty of what Wisconsin's football team presented on the field Saturday afternoon defied logic. So instead, Badgers running back Montee Ball watched from the backfield as quarterback Danny O'Brien attempted a sneak up the middle from Oregon State's 37-yard-line with 11 minutes remaining in the game. O'Brien never made it past the line of scrimmage.Hindsight, of course, is 2020, but if any play hinted at the level of Wisconsin's offensive ineptitude, this was it. The Badgers turned the ball over on downs on their way to completing an absolutely stunning stinker. Oregon State, which won three games last season, held on for a 10-7 victory against No. 13 Wisconsin at Reser Stadium. The facts, much like the game itself, weren't pretty for Wisconsin.The Badgers' streak of 33 consecutive regular-season nonconference victories is over. So is Ball's streak of 21 straight games with a touchdown and likely his Heisman Trophy candidacy. Wisconsin was shut out through three quarters for the first time in seven years. And only a touchdown drive in the final two minutes prevented the Badgers from being shut out in a game for the first time in 15 years.Now, serious questions must be addressed about a team that was supposed to challenge for a third straight Big Ten championship.There will inevitably be concerns raised about new offensive coordinator Matt Canada's ability to draw up plays. The quarterback sneak aside, Wisconsin has struggled to score consistently in 2012. Although two games is a small sample size, averaging 16.5 points per game certainly won't cut it.Last year, with offensive coordinator Paul Chryst now head coach at Pittsburgh the Badgers averaged 44.1 points and never scored fewer than 28 points in a game. Wisconsin now has failed to reach that mark in both contests this season.Why?Is it Canada's style? Is it the offensive line's inability to open holes? Is it the lack of quality wide receivers? Is O'Brien merely an average quarterback?It has been said not to rush to judgment without examining the evidence. But the evidence presented thus far leaves plenty of room for criticism.Wisconsin barely hung on for a 26-21 victory last week against Northern Iowa of the lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision. On Saturday, Oregon State outgained Wisconsin 354 yards to 207, the Badgers' lowest total in five seasons. The Beavers held on to the ball 11 minutes longer than the Badgers. And the score could have been much worse if not for Wisconsin's staunch defense over Oregon State's 77 plays (Wisconsin ran 61 plays). Ball, who rushed 32 times for 120 yards a week ago, carried the ball just 15 times for 61 yards against the Beavers. When No. 1 wide receiver Jared Abbrederis injured himself in the second quarter and didn't return, Ball should have taken more carries, not fewer. Losses on the road in college football happen all the time, but the way in which Wisconsin played offensively was beyond embarrassing. It was borderline humiliating. And the result should lead to Badgers fans reassessing their level of optimism for this year's team. In other words, they should lower their standards. This is not the same unit that reached back-to-back Rose Bowls.Gone to the NFL off last year's team are two offensive linemen (Peter Konz and Kevin Zeitler), a fullback (Bradie Ewing), a wide receiver (Nick Toon) and a quarterback (Russell Wilson) who was named the opening day starter for the Seattle Seahawks.O'Brien was compared heavily in the offseason to Wilson because the two share a similar story. Both transferred to Wisconsin from Atlantic Coast Conference programs under the graduate student transfer exception rule. But O'Brien is not an NFL-ready quarterback as Wilson was last season, and the team doesn't execute small details as well as it did in 2011.With the game still hanging in the balance during the second half on Saturday, O'Brien threw an interception and fumbled in the red zone on successive drives. Wilson threw just four interceptions all of last season, and the Badgers scored in the red zone 71 of 75 times (95 percent).Last season, Wisconsin led the nation in third-down conversion rate at 55 percent. On Saturday, the Badgers whiffed on their first 12 third-down attempts and finished 2 for 14 (14.2 percent).Yes, it's just one game. If nothing else, the putrid stench of misery should cling to the Badgers all week. But Saturday's result also might serve as a warning. If things don't improve during Big Ten play, that stench could remain all season.Follow Jesse Temple on Twitter.