Bret Bielema Week 3 Press Conference Thread: Mike Markuson, Utah State, Picking Up The Pieces

In case you slept in, here's the news today: Mike Markuson is out as Wisconsin's offensive line coach.

The Badgers' offense was miserable against the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday, amassing only 207 yards of total offense. Heisman Trophy hopeful Montee Ball rushed 15 times for 61 yards (4.1 yards per carry), but Wisconsin's rushing total was a paltry 35 yards after subtracting Danny O'Brien's minus-35.

All that said -- and it can't be forgotten that Wisconsin barely escaped FCS squad Northern Iowa in Week 1 -- isn't it somewhat early to make this kind of move? Bielema added six new coaches to his staff this offseason, and wasn't the expectation that there was going to be some speed bumps? Sure, no one really foresaw a Week 2 loss and this kind of ineptitude on offense.

But unless there was some sort of incident or major disagreement -- I don't want to unfairly speculate, so I'll stop here -- this seems like an overreaction of sorts to the panic that's suddenly struck Madison.

The widely held expectation for this season was a return to Pasadena and, hopefully, a win this time. The road there hasn't really changed: play well enough in Big Ten season, get to the conference championship game and win that. That's still all feasible, no matter where the polls have -- or don't have -- the Badgers.

But hey, those are just my thoughts. Bielema's weekly press conferences are streamed live on UWBadgers.com every Monday at 12:30 p.m. CT, so feel free to watch along and share your comments below. We'll have all the news up here on B5Q, as well as plenty of reaction, so please come join us. Also, head below the jump for some post-game interview footage if you'd like.

Wisconsin vs. Oregon State: Bret Bielema Postgame Press Conference (WisconsinAthletics on YouTube):

Wisconsin vs. Oregon State: Postgame Interviews (WisconsinAthletics on YouTube: