For a homecoming weekend the Badgersphere is oddly quiet concerning the game this weekend. I place a great deal of blame on one major factor - the Big Ten Network making the game inaccessible to fans of college football and the Badgers. Isn't there something in the Constitution about free and equal access to football?

With Halloween festivities raging in the city surrounding Camp Randall, the Badgers (for the second weekend in a row) showed why they were so high ranked at the start of the season. The Wisconsin Sports Bar puts it out there for us when he says, "I believe Space Aliens replaced the Wisconsin Defense today." Personally, being Halloween and all, I hope Coach Bielema didn't go as far as to sell his soul for a new Badger defense. The next two games are the most important games the Badgers have faced all season. They need to take down both Ohio State and Michigan if they want to stay in the running for a decent bowl title (At this time CBS projects UW going to the Champ Sports Citrus Bowl against Georgia Tech. They also project Ohio ending the season undefeated).

What else does WSB have to say? "You have to wonder where has this Defense been, trapped in a research room on the Alien Mother ship being anal probed? This was not the defense that got shredded by Penn State or allowed the loss at Illinois."

Brats and Beer wonders if they can keep the momentum: "UW rolled to an easy 33-3 win with a stifling defense that created five turnovers and allowed just 258 yards of offense from the Hoosiers. Now that’s the sort of defensive performance we thought we’d be getting all season long. The question is was this a one-time deal or can they bring it again next week against Ohio State?"

Defense aside, what about QB Tyler Donovan? He started the season with plenty of praise, but where does he stand now with most of the season behind us? Camp Lambeau is concerned: "Donovan looks to have regressed as a passer. The Washington State game may have been his best performance of the year. He was repeatedly over and underthrowing guys, causing them to jump up and get in vulnerable positions (see Swan's injury against Illinois), get out of stride, or lurch backwards. In some cases, he had serious pressure, so it was understandable. But he made too many mistakes."

Next weeks game could be contingent on many factors. The three most important: 1) Will PJ Hill be back on his feet? The running back left Saturday's game with an injury. 2) Can Donovan find the magic from the first three games? 3) Will the aliens let us keep the defensive stand-ins for a couple more weeks?

M.S. Kirk at fingerprintphoto has some great photos from his first Badger game.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel brings us some facts about the Badgers, "Wisconsin has now won 13 consecutive home games. During the streak, UW has scored at least 30 points at 10 times. UW is now 51-44-5 in Homecoming games."