That history is unfortunate, but it also might as well be ancient. Right here, right now, Wisconsin, if it ranks among the elite teams, must win this game. Nobody who watched the game and remained awake throughout would question the effort. It's the result that you ask about. Alvarez brought this program from oblivion to heights it had never previously reached.
Nothing changes that or detracts from that.
He emerged with a product light-years better than what existed in Madison before his arrival. But there are still afternoons such as this one, when the other team is big enough and talented enough and tough enough to say, no, Ron Dayne isn't beating us today. We are bringing our entire traveling party up near the line of scrimmage and we are daring you to find another way to beat us. This is when the limitations typically set in. This happened Saturday, when Michigan held Dayne to absolutely no yards in the second half.