Luke Fickell explains what his message is to Braelon Allen through two weeks

Luke Fickell explained his message to running back Braelon Allen after Wisconsin’s first two games of the season. Chez Mellusi is the apparent bell cow of the offense so far in the Badgers’ 1-1 start.

On the surface, that’s what it looks like, but both backs are pretty even in carries: 25 for Mellusi and 24 for Allen. However, Mellusi has 207 yards and three scores compared to Allen’s 161 and two scores.

Fickell explained the usage of Allen in the loss to Washington State, in which Allen received just seven carries.

“Just how he handles all those situations you know, I mean, it’s kind of the good and the bad, right,” Fickell said.

“We talked about this before the season started and your ability to take what is there and what is given is what we’ve got to be able to go with when, hopefully, and you believe you’ve got some more weapons than just you know, two tailbacks or you know what you’re going to hang your hat on every single time, that when you do have those opportunities, you got to take advantage of them.” 

Allen’s been a stud over the last two years, topping 1,200 yards both times and scored 23 rushing touchdowns. It doesn’t look too much different right now, but only seven carries did raise some questions in a loss to the Cougars.

“They did a good job at taking away the run and stopping the run and doing some things especially early on,” Fickell said. “But we have some opportunity to get our guys on the edges with things and we’ve got to take advantage of those for him as well. And I think he understands that, he definitely understands that.

“We also know that we got to find more ways to create energy through the running game, whether it’s with Braelon or with Chez. But I think that, you know, these are the things you got to go hand in hand …  It’s not the same as it has been and I think that’s where we’ve all got to recognize that.” 

Whether there are changes to the offense coming or Allen’s role will be reduced is not exactly what Fickell is saying. But it certainly seems like Wisconsin’s offense won’t solely be predicated on Allen’s ability to run the football.

“I’m not saying it’s right or it’s better or whatever it is, but there’s a flow to things you know, and I think he’s mature,” Fickell said of Allen. “He understands that. He’s disappointed, he obviously wants to touch the ball a lot more and feels like more than just selfishly, feels like he can be more of an impact. 

“And I agree with him. He can be more of an impact but, you know, the opportunities that we get, we’ve all got to take advantage of it.”

As a member of the Class of 2021, Allen was a four-star recruit out of Fond Du Lac (Wisc.) High, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 19 linebacker in the class (before switching to RB) and the No. 148 overall prospect in the class.