The Wisconsin Badgers suffered yet another loss in a big game on Saturday, falling short in a 24-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines to drop to 2-3 on the season.
After the game, head coach Luke Fickell shared that the team’s finishing ability still needs to grow, which came out in the second half.
“We’re not here to sugarcoat anything,” Fickell said after the loss. “There is obviously always some good, but their ability to sustain and finish is still where we are not anywhere close to where we need
to be. The second half kind of showed that. I would give them a lot of credit to stick with what they needed to do and wanted to do. And, in the long run, probably wore us down a bit and we weren’t able to sustain and maintain some things in the second half.
“The game of football hasn’t changed. It has grown, but the truth of the matter is, 12, 13, 14 play drives, sustaining things like that, that is tough on either side of the ball. And, I know we did on the first series, but we have to find better ways to make big plays, whether that is some runs, just giving our guys a chance to get to the second level, and the same thing defensively. I mean, the difference in the ball game is some big plays. Not taking anything away from them, they made some great catches down the field that are really, really good plays. And that is right now where we aren’t and haven’t been able to do.”
Still, with the Badgers facing a tough stretch ahead, the head coach knows things aren’t getting any easier.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Fickell continued. “I said it in the locker room, there is only one place and way to get to where we wanna go, and that is through it. That is to go through these tough times, and really tough situations. That is recognizing that it is going to take a hell of a lot of effort and strength and toughness, and most importantly, a hell of a lot of competitive spirit. Every play will be evaluated tonight, offense, defense, and special teams, about what is the competitive spirit and competitive nature of all of our team.”
