Better Off Red: Winning with Accountability

The laboratory team I’ve been working on for the past two weeks recently read a book on accountability. Essentially, the book described how accountability has gotten a bad rap, defined only as the process by which bosses reprimand people who screw up. Instead, said the book, accountability should be installed on the front end in the form of clear expectations and open communication. That way, everybody knows what is expected of everybody else, and when problems arise, each party involved can diagnose where problems arose.

Last season the Badger football team was a bit unaccountable, but in a good way, I suppose. It was the kind of unaccountability that comes with an overachieving team. The Badgers, though picked in the top-15 of preseason polls, weren’t expected to challenge Ohio State (or even Iowa, whose front-loaded accountability came crashing down around them) for the Big Ten title or make an appearance in the Rose Bowl. But they did, and suddenly everybody was adjusting to a Wisconsin team that was just flat-out good. Their trip to Pasadena brought more guessing and estimating–accountability killers–considering their opponent was a non-major conference team that possessed obvious talent but lacked benchmarks for easy comparison with their major conference brothers. Obviously Badger fans hoped that Bucky would end up devouring the hopefully-not-poisonous Horned Toads by night’s end, and many may have even expected it for whatever reason they found particularly compelling. But when the game was lost, the blaming commenced. Batted passes and missed field goals were popular targets for derision, accompanied by distraught exclamations not of what could have been, but what should have been. Perhaps these were reasonable: Philip Welch is by all accounts an excellent placekicker, and pass-protection/accuracy were rarely a serious issue for Scott Tolzien. But when a team exceeds expectations, suddenly everything is just expected to go right, yet the final failure is placed squarely on the shoulders of the guys who carried you this far.

We’re front-loading the Badgers with a lot more accountability this year. Renting Russell Wilson for a year brought with it clear expectations: do what you did in the ACC, but now do it with a massive offensive line and stellar running game to support you. Throw lots of long touchdowns and run for a few more, supremely confusing Wisconsin opponents who expect nothing more than a pocket-passer under center. Chris Borland’s return and re-positioning brought more expectations: cause much mayhem in the middle of the field and jump over a few linemen. Whether these expectations are reasonable is another question (Borland’s move in particular has drawn some criticism), but they’re out there and most everybody has bought into them.

The system obviously isn’t built for football, considering how much more difficult is is to project a college football season than 3rd-quarter inventory costs. Perhaps it’s more a question of degree–the Badger faithful expect this team to romp through their schedule, and at least make a return trip to the Rose Bowl. It’s a similar situation to what has arisen in the MLB, where Brewer fans are becoming light-headed from this strange new wealth of confidence, an unfamiliar but not unwelcome feeling that the Brewers are capable of winning any game they play.

That’s what inspires us to look at a 51-17 demolition of UNLV with only mildly-impressed eyes and wonder why the Badgers game up so many rushing yards. It was an impressive showing for the team as a whole, but expectations weren’t met across the board. Which makes me wonder, what are the expectations for the defense? After so much attention was placed on the Russell Wilson transfer and the rise of Montee Ball and James White, most of the ink spent on the defense was used raising additional questions. Nobody really knows what the Badgers have on defense since the defining changes from last year to this year were the departure of J.J. Watt and Borland’s return. If you haven’t totally bailed on my admittedly thin metaphor, consider how difficult it is to front-load accountability on a unit that is so ill-defined. It will likely take a few more games for the defense to gel together and give fans and coaches a better idea of what they’re capable of.

There is little doubt the Badgers’ offense will be excellent this season, but the defense’s ability to hold up their end is critical to Wisconsin’s success. We’re going to hold them accountable for the team’s performance. If we’re trying to be fair, though, we have to remember that this is a unit partially in transition, and that an outstanding offense is limited in its ability to keep the other team from scoring. Until the really tough games start, though, I’d estimate the defense will continue to get limited attention beyond an occasional question or concern that gets swept under the rug of good feelings borne from 30-point blowouts. In business, that’s a risky proposition. In the passionate and often short-sighted realm of college football, it’s nearly unavoidable. Let’s just hope our expectations don’t turn out to be pipe dreams, or we’ll only be able to hold ourselves accountable for our disappointment.

But seriously, the offense looks crazy good. We’re totally going undefeated, I’m calling it.