University of Wisconsin senior defensive tackle Patrick Butrym didn’t go into the locker room at halftime of the Big Ten Conference championship game expecting to say anything to his teammates.
But when the spirit moved him, Butrym didn’t want to be haunted by a great regret:
What if he didn’t speak up?
So with the Badgers trailing Michigan State 29-21 after a disastrous second quarter in which they were outscored 22-0 — and some of his teammates slumped in front of their lockers looking defeated — Butrym knew he had to say something.
“I guess in times of adversity, you need leadership,” said Butrym, one of UW’s four captains. “It’s easy to be a leader when you’re winning by 52 points.
“I saw guys’ heads down. I saw guys maybe thinking we were out of it. I looked around and said, ‘Now’s the time. If I’m going to do something, I might as well do it.’ ”
Butrym had one visual stuck in his head, which was the basis of his rant.
“The thing I couldn’t stand was (the thought of) having Michigan State guys with the roses in their mouths, prancing around the field” after the game, Butrym said. “I told (my teammates) I’m sick of losing to Michigan State, two times in a season and three times in a row is unacceptable.”
Several of Butrym’s teammates mentioned his spirited halftime talk after the Badgers rallied to a 42-39 victory to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl against Oregon on Jan. 2.
“Pat was going nuts,” sophomore linebacker Chris Borland said. “I thought he was going to pass out and start turning blue. ... Sometimes we need a kick in the butt.”
Butrym was candid when asked what upset him most after the Spartans rolled up 317 total yards in the first half.
“Being soft, to be completely honest with you,” he said. “We just were not playing as well as we could, especially how hard we worked throughout the week. It came down to tackling and executing, that’s what it was.”
The Badgers have been a much better defense in the second half of recent games. In their past five games, they have allowed 76 points in the first half and 17 in the second.
