Luke Fickell reacts to Ricardo Hallman's 95-yard pick-six vs. Rutgers

Fireworks were set off after in a flash a rather bland first 29 minutes of the first half between Wisconsin and Rutgers on Saturday.

The Scarlet Knights marched down the field in an attempt to put points on the board before halftime. With time winding down and Rutgers in the red zone, Badgers defensive back Ricardo Hallman picked off quarterback Gavin Wimsatt for a 95-yard pick-six with four seconds remaining in the first half.

Hallman’s score gave Wisconsin a 17-0 lead going into the halftime locker room, and head coach Luke Fickell is feeling a bit less pressure with a padded lead at the break.

“It makes us feel a lot better,” Fickell said at halftime of the Peacock broadcast. “They were playing the field position battle there for the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. I knew exactly what they were trying to do and there were good fortunes for us.”

Fickell is referring to the fact that if the Scarlet Knights had scored a touchdown on that possession, all of a sudden the game is 10-7 rather than a three-score game in Wisconsin’s favor. Rutgers gets the ball out of the halftime locker room, and in that scenario would be the drive that would’ve — in theory — given Rutgers the lead without Wisconsin having the ball.

It didn’t work out that way, and the Badgers are rolling at home. Before heading into the locker room to address his players, Fickell revealed the keys to the second half for his team.

“We’ve got to be consistent. We have to be able to run the ball a little bit more when we’re pounding the thing,” Fickell said. “We can’t get a little too pass-happy and we will try to mix it up. I think we’re doing a good job defensively, we made some plays in the first half and we have to do it again in the second half.”

You can catch the remainder of the game exclusively on Peacock as Wisconsin looks to improve to 4-1 on the young season and remain atop the Big Ten West standings.

If the Badgers can take care of business against the Scarlet Knights, they’ll turn their attention toward a massive division matchup against Iowa. A road trip at Illinois ensues before a reality check game against Ohio State in at home in Madison.