It doesn't get much worse than 38-7. Unless, of course, you're Notre Dame.

The University of Wisconsin's dwindling hopes of its first Big Ten Championship since 1999 disappeared in about the same time it took for Josh Gaines to smack the ball out of running back P.J. Hill's hands on the Badgers' first play from scrimmage.

What transpired in Happy Valley Saturday afternoon wasn't so much as a defeat. It was a total and complete butt-kicking by Penn State. The Nittany Lions kept the Badgers from doing anything; running the ball, throwing the ball, playing defense ... quarterback Tyler Donovan couldn't even get a cup of Gatorade without having a handful of Penn State defenders get in his way.

Donovan and Hill weren't the lone culprits. For Wisconsin, there is plenty of blame to go around. Earlier in the year, the team was able to overcome defensive shortcomings. But that was against the likes of The Citadel and Washington State. Wisconsin got lucky against Michigan State and Iowa and their inadequacies - especially on defense - were finally exposed last week at Illinois.

If Wisconsin expects to even contend for a New Years Day bowl game, it simply can't allow its opponents to run up 437 yards of total offense like Penn State did on Saturday. It also cannot continue to allow teams to put up 30 points or more as it's done four times this season, especially considering the way that the offense has sputtered in the last two weeks.

P.J. Hill was conjuring up comparisons to former Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne last season as he was tearing up the Big Ten as a freshman. Hill, mainly because of injuries, was a non-factor down the stretch as Wisconsin coasted to a 12-1 record and a CapitalOne Bowl victory over Arkansas. In the last two weeks, Hill has shown signs of a similar funk, picking up just75 yards on 19 carries at Happy Valley and had just 83 in the loss at Illinois last week.

Granted, much of that had to do with the Badgers being in double-digit halftime deficits, but if Wisconsin can't run the ball, it's in big, big trouble.

There was little help from the passing game, either. Donovan's numbers weren't terrible, but 14-of-29 for 220 yards won't get the job done when the running game has stalled. Again, people can point to the absence of senior wide receiver Luke Swann, but a pair of interceptions can't be solely attributed to a missing receiver.

Wisconsin was a sexy pick at the beginning of the season thanks to a gaudy 12-1 performance last year. But face it, the Badgers played nobody but Michigan during the regular season and got stomped in the Big House. The offense was able to overcome a shoddy defense during the non-conference season, but league opponents are much, much better.

Back-to-back dates against Michigan and at Ohio State loom on the horizon. The Badgers need to find some answers soon, or they will be trying to convince fans that a trip to El Paso or San Antonio is a great way to spend the holidays.