TAMPA, Fla. -- Because nobody does bowls like the University of Wisconsin football team, you'll have to excuse the Badgers if they didn't quite know how to act Tuesday.

UW's 21-17 loss to Tennessee in the Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium was unfamiliar ground for the players in a program that fully expected to conclude its season by beating an SEC opponent in a bowl for the third consecutive year.

But in a game the Badgers would have won had they not set a program record for unforced errors, UW's reactions ranged from Travis Beckum's helmet-throwing frustration to the seniors' sad realization their final game -- much like their final season -- had fallen well short of expectations.

At least the Badgers displayed the one emotion coach Bret Bielema wanted to see after they were unable to capitalize on the many opportunities they created for themselves in the second half, a failure that left them with a disappointing 9-4 record in a season that had promised so much more.

"Hopefully," Bielema said, "it makes you very, very mad. I told the guys, 'I don't expect to see any smiles, but I don't want to see anybody hanging their heads.' There are certain guys that at certain times in the game could have capitalized better for us. We needed to play a very, very clean game overall for us to get a win."

So that's how it was for UW, which in August was thought by many to be the perfect team. Back then, the Badgers had 16 starters back from a 12-1 team and seemingly had all of the replacement parts it needed in stock.

But after back-to-back losses to Illinois and Penn State in October, a late-season defeat at No. 1 Ohio State and now a bowl loss to the short-handed Volunteers, the measure of this UW team has been revealed.

Yes, it has an admirable competitive steak, one that is personified by indestructible quarterback Tyler Donovan. But UW is an imperfect team that never adequately replaced the players who graduated, suffered some key injuries and, thus, had no margin for error against quality opponents.

When UW played perfectly, as it did against Michigan, it won. When it didn't do everything right, which it certainly didn't do against Tennessee, it lost.

"I think ultimately we weren't as good as we thought (we were) in the beginning of the season," linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. "I think we did good in the second half of the season, but today we didn't show up in the first half."

Casillas was speaking for the defense, but he could have been speaking for the entire team. UW started the game like it had misplaced the magic formula that had produced a 9-3 bowl record since 1994.

The UW offense lined up incorrectly, allowed Tennessee's pedestrian pass rush to batter Donovan and committed killer turnovers on its first and last series. Twice in the second half, including once after a change of possession, UW had to call timeout due to alignment or personnel issues, timeouts that would have been helpful when it was driving for the potential winning touchdown in the final minute.

The defense allowed Erik Ainge, Tennessee's skittish quarterback, to throw for 365 yards, a remarkable number considering the Vols were without their best receiver. Despite Ainge's history of throwing the ball up for grabs when rushed, UW never sacked him. Instead, he frustrated the Badgers by continually turning third-and-long into first-and-10.

But the mistakes were not limited to the players. Trailing by four, the Badgers had a fourth-and-2 at Tennessee's 10-yard line with 6 minutes left when Bielema turned down a chip-shot field goal even though UW had dominated in the second half. The Badgers compounded the mistake by calling a pass play (it failed) instead of giving the ball to halfback P.J. Hill, who had been plowing through the tiring Vols.

Had Bielema taken the field goal, UW would have only needed a field goal on its final drive and likely wouldn't have attempted the risky pass to the end zone that was intercepted with 28 seconds left, ending their season.

It was an ending that became all-too-familiar for this UW team.

"There were a couple of times, a couple of places where we could have done things differently to win the game," senior tight end Andy Crooks said. "But in all of our losses all year, that's kind of how it was. We had chances and we didn't take advantage of them. It's just hard going out like that. "

Especially given the way UW went into this season.