Leadership crisis?

Earlier this week, I did an interview with Aaron Rennie of CFB Weekly, the college football blog radio show. Click here to listen to it. My part comes last, and you'll listen to bloggers talking about Oregon State, Alabama, Missouri, and Michigan before getting to my segment. Aaron asked me questions about the Michigan game and the Madison tailgating scene.

He also asked what I thought the keys to the Ohio State game would be. Honestly, I didn't have much insightful to say. What it boiled down to was we have to turn Terrelle Pryor into a thrower and limit his running attempts, and our offense needs to establish the run. Rocket science, I know.

But I think what we're looking for here is something more intangible. This Badger team has talent and experience -- but does it have sufficient leadership? I'm worried that we're lacking in that area.

For all the talk about dropped balls and play calling and missed opportunities, those were just symptoms. The Badgers lacked the will and killer instinct to put a subpar Michigan team away last week.

For all the talk about Pryor and Beanie Wells and Ohio State's defense and how we'll handle them, the Badgers need leadership to carry them tomorrow night. Not just rah-rah, yell at your teammates leadership. But getting out there even if you're not 100%. Not committing mental errors that lead to penalties or botched plays. Not playing tentatively. Wisconsin's supposed leaders -- the upperclassmen who have started for multiple years -- have all been guilty of failing in one or more of those areas.

I thought the win at Fresno State showed this team had strong leadership, gutting out a close win in a tough environment. In reality, I probably overrated Fresno, and if we could have won that game by two scores.

Leadership (and a weaker Big Ten) is what lifted the 2006 team to a 12-1 record. This 2008 team is arguably more talented, but it stands on the brink of being 3-3 eight days from now, searching for answers.

Tomorrow night's game should be close. Ohio State isn't as good as most people thought coming into the season, and they're certainly not as bad as many people thought following their blowout loss at USC. Holding the game at night at Camp Randall is certainly an advantage for us. The game will probably be tight, and whichever team's leaders carry their team better will come out on top. Unfortunately, I think Jim Tressel's team has the edge.

Ohio State 21, Wisconsin 17