Bulldogs get close but no banana once again

Published online on Saturday, Sep. 12, 2009

MADISON, Wis. -- If Fresno State had won, we would be talking about his four touchdowns, but that's not how this harsh reality show works.

The last of Ryan Colburn's three interceptions must have floated for 10 minutes. Maybe 12. It could have been longer.

Everything but the defender was in slow motion. Wisconsin must have slipped in a football with helium.

When it left Colburn's left hand, before a charging lineman smashed into him, he thought it was a touchdown. The receiver, Chastin West, had the option of going right or left and he chose to break right. He was open.

"I wanted to put a little air on it," Colburn said later, "but I felt like I put a little bit too much."

Football games are decided by little bits, and safety Chris Maragos had enough time to recover and make a great play, in the south end zone, in the second overtime, in the roar of 80,000 sore throats that had nothing to do with the local flu outbreak. Maragos pulled it away, right over the white "G" in Badgers, probably short for, Goodness how does Fresno State get so painfully close so often?

"Everybody wants to talk ticket prices all the time," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. "I think we gave everyone full-dollar value."

That's the trend. The Bulldogs always seem to put on a good road show, they just have trouble slamming the door when a victory wanders into the trap.

Wisconsin escaped again Saturday, this time 34-31 in two overtimes, after being outplayed on its own field.

"We had plenty of opportunities," Bulldogs coach Pat Hill said.

Wide receiver Seyi Ajirotutu sat and talked about how many gut-twisting losses the Bulldogs have had since he arrived. All three points or fewer. Last year it was Louisiana Tech and Hawaii and Wisconsin. Texas A&M the year before that. Washington and Utah State the year before that. Nevada and Oregon the year before that, which doesn't even include The Game.

"We can play to beat anybody," Ajirotutu said. "We just don't finish."

Throw another one on the pile.

Everyone was worried about the Bulldogs getting swine flu this weekend, but where was the concern for the Badgers catching a nasty case of the Almosts?

The most painful part is how well Fresno State played, how exciting they were, and not just because it was 21-7. That Bulldogs defense was absolutely dwarfed and kept fighting. The secondary gave up too much, but the Badgers really only had that one big run on the ground. Ben Jacobs must have gotten his 200-something-pound body trampled a dozen times and just kept slamming into that fullback.

The play calling was creative and effective. When Wisconsin challenged the Bulldogs to beat them through the air with a first-year quarterback -- which is what you and I and anyone else would have done -- Fresno State didn't just ram its running backs into a wall for three hours. It beat them through the air.

Colburn threw some beautiful passes, and even went for the win at the end of regulation when Hill and the Gang could have plowed for a field goal. Colburn overthrew Darren Newborn just a tad, and might have over-adjusted on the overtime interception.

It was the second start of Colburn's career, though, the first on the road, and it's hard to complain about how he played.

The Fresno State return teams must have gotten a penalty on every kick, and that certainly didn't help. Not sure anyone expected Colburn to throw 36 times for 289 yards, let alone four touchdowns. We might not see Derek Carr again this season, and maybe we shouldn't.

The second interception was a pass that shouldn't have been thrown. The first was a pass interference on Devon Wylie that wasn't called, so it's hard to blame Colburn for that. He wasn't accepting excuses. Asked how he played, he simply said, "Not good enough."

He was right. He could have played better. And yet, there is no doubt that unlike his last pass Saturday, the question of who is the Bulldogs quarterback is no longer hanging out there.