With any new coach, there is always a window of trial and error with their philosophies clashing with the team’s established reasoning. When the Badgers hired Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell last November, the excitement was through the roof in Madison, especially when he brought in North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo. With Longo’s known air-raid scheme, it seemed that Wisconsin would land an elite offense.
Once we saw how his aggressive transfer portal recruiting, snagging quarterback Tanner Mordecai, the Fickell hype increased, and fans were excited to finally seize a competent QB under center. UW is now off to a 3-1 start having just beaten Purdue to open Big Ten conference play. While a respectable start, some fans have started to question the new coaching staff.
The Badgers non-conference schedule consisted of home games against five opponents in Buffalo and Georgia Southern, and then a road trip out to Power 5 opponent Washington State, losing to at Camp Randall last season. The consensus seemed to be everyone expecting a 4-0 start, given Wisconsin’s top 25 preseason ranking going up against three unranked teams.
What happened was 12 quarters of football where the Badgers played down their opponents. Game one against Buffalo was a 38-17 win (despite entering the game as near 30-point favorites), but they only held a 14-10 lead at halftime. In game two, they got down 24-6 in the first half to an underrated Washington State, coached by Wisconsin-born UW-Stevens Point alum Jake Dickert.
They stormed back to cut the deficit to two before falling 31-22. Game three was back in Madison against Georgia Southern, and once again a sluggish first half led to a 7-7 halftime score despite being over 20-point favorites. After Georgia Southern jumped out to a 14-7 lead early in the third, the Badgers would go on to score 28 unanswered points to win 35-14 and cover the points spread for the first time this season. So, what have we learned from the season’s first quarter of the season and why the concern?
The team’s improvement is obvious. After forcing zero turnovers in their first two games without former Defense Coordinator Jim Leonhard, their defense finally woke up and captured six takeaways against Georgia Southern. After a sluggish start in Longo’s offense, Mordecai is looking like the quarterback he was at SMU. Looking back at the offense’s first three games, I’m willing to be patient.
At first, I didn’t like the running game’s lack of focus, especially the lack of carries for Heisman contender Braelon Allen. But football is a physical sport, and the last thing you want to do is wear out the running back by overworking him, especially in the non-conference slate
As we get deeper into Big Ten play and the weather gets colder, his carries will slowly pick up. I expect the offense’s balance and identity to improve over the next four Big Ten games, before the big game against Ohio State at October’s end.
Soon, we will see the results of Fickell’s first year.