The Wisconsin Badgers had a deflating loss to the Maryland Terrapins on Sunday, losing 27-10 in arguably the program’s biggest defeat in the Luke Fickell era.
It was a troubling day from the start, as Wisconsin lost starting quarterback Billy Edwards on its second drive after the senior looked less than 100 percent heading into the game.
From there, things spiraled downward as Wisconsin looked unprepared and was outplayed in every facet of the game. That raised questions about the state of the program
and Fickell’s leadership, as Wisconsin has a brutal stretch ahead for the remainder of the season.
What is the team’s biggest worry after the loss to Maryland?
“We knew this was going to be a mountain. We knew this was going to be a lot of things, and we said we need to have confidence,” Fickell said after the game. “Confidence isn’t something you can just possess or just give somebody. Whether it is your team, your own kids, it is something that is built [when] something goes wrong [and] you have a bad play.
“What I worried about is if Billy started, and played, and then all of a sudden something goes wrong and he couldn’t keep going, does that cause some of that deflation? As opposed to just going with Danny to start with, let’s make sure that we are not bouncing back and forth. We’ve got a challenge, and we’ve got to go right through this thing. It is tough in there, and there are a lot of guys that need to check themselves and see where they are.
“I talked about how throughout fall camp. The culture of this team was something that was a lot stronger than what we have had, and we’re gonna find out just how strong it is. That is where we are gonna have to go, because it doesn’t get easier.”
The culture of this team was something the coaching staff has praised quite a bit heading into the season. But, for some reason, the same issues of the past, such as slow starts, have continued to plague the team.
Fickell acknowledged how the team isn’t built currently to overcome shifts in momentum, which speaks to the culture of the team. It doesn’t feel like leadership is strong currently on either side of the ball, both from a coaching perspective and from the players side.
Wisconsin has had “buy-in” issues in the past. Things need to change and fast if the Badgers are to salvage any part of this season. Or, quite frankly, even win another game.
