Oofta. Could we have our first college fix of the season?

On surface, it would make complete sense to many people who follow college football.

SEC power plays Wisconsin in made-for-TV opener in Texas.

Wisconsin has a good first half and gets a lead at halftime, and then dies out as LSU racks 21 straight on the board to get the victory last Saturday night.

Complete sense, especially to those (including this former Wisconsinite) who would like to know the last time Wisconsin has won a national-relevant game.  (Big Ten Championship Games do not count -- I was talking NATIONAL relevance.  Maybe the night they beat #1 Ohio State in Camp Randall, but that was more spoiler...)  Team hasn't won a bowl game since the Champs Sports Bowl in 2009.  Last time they won a semi-major bowl was 2005.  Last time the Rose Bowl?  1999.

Wisconsin is, if not THE, one of the, most overrated football programs in the nation, and no one is going to confuse them with a year-in, year-out national power.

So why did I put this here?

Comments made after the game by the Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen and the running back, Melvin Gordon, who had 139 yards rushing on 13 carries by the time he burst through for 63 yards on the first play of the second half to help put Wisconsin ahead 24-7.

He spent most of the second half on the bench (3 rushes for 2 yards), and, as Grantland college football writer Matt Hinton notes, no one understands why.

Not even the Wisconsin coach or the player!

From the press after the game...

"Where was tailback Melvin Gordon in the second half?

“There was a little bit of a scenario with Melvin being completely ready to go at halftime,” UW coach Gary Andersen said. “But he came out and hit the long run and he seemed to be OK.”

Why was Gordon on the bench so frequently for the final 1 ½ quarters? 

“I don’t know that,” Andersen said.

“I was good, man,” Gordon said when asked about the lack of playing time. “I was all good. They went with Corey … I’m a little sore. Obviously you get hit … but I’m A-OK.”"

The result:  Three punts, two picks, and 32 yards the rest of the game.  LSU wins 28-24.

There are only two reasoned scenarios:

1) The team found out something about Gordon in the third quarter that basically meant he was probably ineligible.

2) The game was fixed for LSU, and Wisconsin wasn't going with the script.

Explain the comments by coach and player, given what happened, otherwise.