Luke Fickell Analyzes Future of Wisconsin Football After 37-0 Loss to Iowa
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin football program has reached a new low under Luke Fickell after a 37-0 loss to Iowa at Camp Randall Stadium. In Madison, the Badgers failed to record a single point, tallying just 209 total yards of offense to the Hawkeyes’ 319.
Fickell spoke to the media after the game and was asked about his tenure at Wisconsin, the program’s future, and the next steps to take after such a disheartening defeat.
Fickell: ‘That’s as Low as It Can Be.’
After the game, Fickell immediately opened by apologizing. The third-year Badger head coach watched Iowa rush for 210 yards and four touchdowns to Wisconsin’s 127.
“That’s as low as it can be,” Fickell said. “I apologize. I apologize to our guys to not be ready, to not have them ready. I’m dumbfounded in a lot of ways. But that’s my job. This is a game we’ve been talking about since January, and I’ve been doing a lot of things to make sure we’re ready and prepared. Obviously we were not.
“The first quarter was as bad as we could be. Obviously three turnovers and just not an ability to overcome those things, even defensively. [It] put us in a really, really tough situation, and we never got our head above water after that. It is a challenge right now.”
In his second straight start, Hunter Simmons threw two interceptions, finishing the game 8-21 with 82 yards passing. Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski went 17-24 with 107 yards, an interception and a rushing touchdown.
Fickell Speaks on the State of the Wisconsin Football Program
Wisconsin’s quarterback play was simply not up to par for any program. The game was ugly on both ends, but the Badgers could not respond to Iowa’s punches. They especially shot themselves in the foot with three turnovers. Two of those were interceptions, and a backwards pass from Simmons allowed Iowa to recover the football.
“It’s something that we got to take a good, hard look at,” Fickell said. “No disrespect to Hunter, but it probably was an opportunity or some situation where we should have went in the other direction.”
Danny O’Neil, after three starts for Wisconsin, found himself starting on the bench during losses to Michigan and Iowa. The San Diego State transfer was replaced by Simmons, who spent the previous three seasons at Southern Illinois.
In terms of the program as a whole, Fickell believes there is no lone solution. There needs to be improvements in all sectors of the program.
“There is not such thing as an easy fix,” Fickell said. “I don’t know, this is not going to be an easy fix.”
Fickell on Himself, Coaching Staff: ‘Everything is Being Evaluated’
The question on everyone’s mind after such a brutal defeat is what Fickell’s future looks like in Madison after falling to 2-4. Wisconsin is now dead last in the Big Ten with the worst overall record and a 0-3 record in conference play. The head coach addressed the state of the coaching staff, as well as his own state.
“Everything is being evaluated. I gotta look at myself before I can look at anybody else,” Fickell said. “Where we are, it’s not like we can start giving in on each other. That’s the most important thing. We got the right people, meaning doing what we do. We just gotta do it a hell of a lot better.”
“Step one is making sure we find the guys that are gonna compete… We have to do a better job of figuring out which ones those are… I think step one is not giving in on each other, start making some [hasty] decisions. Especially decisions, at this moment, for me in a lot of ways, because this is a really emotional time right now.”
Wisconsin will face No. 1 Ohio State at home next weekend, an even tougher matchup. The Badgers will close out a brutal October schedule with a road game against No. 3 Oregon.
