October 18, 2023

Mordecai went down. The defense gave up only 13, but the offense couldn’t score. Wisconsin is way behind schedule in Fickell’s year 1. 

Fickell’s first season as HC had 1 very clear and attainable goal. Win the division in the last year of its existence, and build on that success heading into 2024. The Badgers were supposed to win the West, not join the chaos. Turns out that when pundits and fans say the B1G West is bad, that includes Wisconsin. We can make excuses about the one big run Iowa had (the only TD of the game), or how the QB went down. But to put it simply: Wisconsin got owned by a team with the worst offense in America. 

Now they need to put the pieces back together and get ready for a 2 game stretch that could really take the season off the rails and into a bottomless canyon. Too hyperbolic? Fine, but Illinois is in the ultimate look ahead spot. Everyone’s looking at the OSU game in 2 weeks when the team needs to be focused on not letting Bielema beat them for the 2nd year in a row. 

The season can go in 2 very …