The University of Wisconsin football team watched a 19-0 halftime lead vanish, a last-minute comeback bid come up two points short and a 27-25 loss to Michigan dampen not only its spirits, but those of its fans.

After the game, Capital Time columnist and Badger Radio Network color commentator Mike Lucas answered questions about the game via telephone from Ann Arbor with the Wisconsin State Journal's Rob Hernandez acting as moderator.

Q. If you're the Badgers, Mike, what hurts most about this loss? And e-mailer Brady would like to know who gets the blame for this collapse?

A. Well, the most obvious thing is you blew a 19-point lead, on the road, in "The Big House." You are just so unaccustomed, from a Wisconsin perspective, to be in that position and you've got to find a way to close it out -- and they couldn't.

We saw signs of this type of play in the second half against Fresno State, where the offense just sputtered and did very little and allowed Fresno to get back in the ballgame. Now Fresno didn't have as many playmakers maybe or didn't make as many plays and Wisconsin was able to escape with that win, but they couldn't get out today, largely because the offense did so very little right up until the final two possessions of the game itself.

I think you saw a very tired, weary and, maybe, frustrated defense on the field throughout the fourth quarter (for the Badgers).

Q. Mike, in a nutshell, what went wrong?

A. Again, offensively, you've got to find a way to pick up some first downs, to use some clock and to find a way to take advantage of that lead. They didn't do it.

They had some errant throws mixed with some drops. It was critical. Those type of mistakes you just can't afford to make against Big Ten opposition, regardless of what people think of Michigan.

You got the feeling after that long drive, their first scoring drive -- I think it was 14 plays, 80 yards -- that all of a sudden Steven Threet was in rhythm and their confidence was building. So at that point, the Wisconsin has to find an answer -- just to keep the defense off the field, if nothing else. I'm not saying you have to find a scoring answer there, but you have to make sure you run some clock and you move the chains and you alter field position. They weren't able to do it.

Again, it comes down to some third downs where they weren't very good. If you look at the Fresno State game, they were like 1 of 8 on third-down conversions and I'm not sure what they finished here today (6-for-19), but it wasn't very good until the very end on those two final possession.

Q. Mike, e-mailer Shap thought the Badgers were far too conservative offensively for his liking.  What did you think?

A. You don't want to make excuses for anybody, but they were down three receivers. They started the game without Travis Beckum. They started the game without Garrett Graham. Their two top receivers. Their two top tight ends. And they were playing without (wide receiver) Maurice Moore, who had a pretty good game at Fresno State.