MADISON, Wis. — Chalk up another low moment for Wisconsin’s football program under Luke Fickell.
No trophies. Almost assuredly no bowl game. And a whole lot of questions about what the future looks like.
The worst Badgers season in 23 years concluded with a 24-7 loss to rival Minnesota on Friday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium in the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe. Wisconsin needed a victory to guarantee its 22-year bowl game streak would remain alive but came up short to finish 5-7 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten play — marking the program’s first losing season since 2001. Barring an unforeseen circumstance in which multiple current five-win teams fail to reach bowl eligibility on the final weekend to open the door for Wisconsin on its Academic Progress Rate, the Badgers’ season is done.
Wisconsin closed the regular season with five consecutive losses for the first time since Barry Alvarez’s second season in 1991 when the Badgers lost six straight. Three of the five defeats to end this season came in trophy games against Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota.
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Here are three initial takeaways from the Badgers’ performance on a day in which the game-time temperature of 22 degrees meant it was the coldest Wisconsin football game at Camp Randall Stadium in 60 years.
1. Part of what made this season so maddening was that whatever slivers of optimism emerged in a given game almost certainly evaporated by the following week. Strong defensive showings against College Football Playoff teams Penn State and Oregon were followed by clunkers against Iowa and Nebraska. So it was again, this time for Wisconsin’s offense.
Last week, quarterback Braedyn Locke threw three touchdown passes during a 44-25 loss to Nebraska in the first game since offensive coordinator Phil Longo was fired. And though it wasn’t enough, it seemed like maybe the offense had found something post-Longo by huddling between every snap and allowing Locke to make quick, decisive throws. And then the Minnesota game happened.
Wisconsin’s offense was horrid for much of the game and was held scoreless during the first half for the first time this season. The Badgers managed three first downs, three batted passes from Locke, zero points and 43 yards of total offense while being booed off the field at halftime by the home fans.
Locke did throw a 15-yard touchdown pass to receiver Vinny Anthony in the third quarter, but the offense wasn’t anywhere close to good enough. By the end of the third quarter, the Badgers had 18 rushing attempts for 12 yards. Locke was somewhere in the ballpark of a 50-percent completion rate in seven of his 10 games played this season. For Wisconsin to take a meaningful step forward, Fickell will have to find better quarterback play.
2. Wisconsin defensive coordinator Mike Tressel joked on Monday that Minnesota “may not pass the ball one time.” The way Tressel and Fickell talked up the Gophers’ running game made it sound like Minnesota had multiple versions of Barry Sanders on the roster. But Minnesota also had a more than capable quarterback in New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer, who came entered game averaging more than 31 passes per game.
And while there were a handful of nice runs, including a 40-yard misdirection around the left side from reserve tailback Marcus Major, it was Brosmer who hurt Wisconsin’s defense most. He dropped in a perfect 37-yard pass to receiver Daniel Jackson on a drive that ended with Brosmer scoring on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Brosmer also threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jackson and a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jameson Geers.
Wisconsin’s defense wasn’t as bad this season as the offense, but that group has plenty to address and likely will lose around half of its two-deep. The inability to stop the run at critical junctures was most glaring and had been a staple of the program’s success for so long. Tressel spent the offseason talking about getting more length and athleticism, but those traits didn’t turn the defense into a better unit.
3. Fickell faces his most important offseason to date at Wisconsin given the way his two seasons have unfolded and what is at stake. He is 12-13 since the start of last season, including 8-10 in Big Ten games. Fickell will hire his offensive coordinator to replace Longo in the coming days, and Fickell can’t afford to be wrong twice. But there are so many more questions in play.
What does the quarterback situation look like? Is Tressel the answer for the defense moving forward? How will the transfer portal impact the roster? Is this program even capable of making meaningful on-field progress under Fickell?
Fickell and his staff have recruited well and will sign a 2025 class on Wednesday that gives Wisconsin 19 four-star 247Sports Composite prospects in the last two cycles. But those players also may need time to develop. Fickell needs to provide a reason for optimism, and the best way to do that is by winning games. But Year 3 won’t get any easier with yet another brutal schedule. How much different the roster and the coaching staff looks by then remains to be seen.
(Top photo: Mark Hoffman / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
