The Wisconsin Badgers fell short in a 24-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, marking yet another defeat to a top-25 opponent.
Wisconsin fought hard throughout the game, especially on the defensive
side of the ball, but they just didn’t have enough offensive firepower to put a dent in Michigan’s lead.
Still, the Badgers did get a field goal near the end of the fourth quarter with three minutes left to make it a two-score game. After a failed onside kick, the Badgers needed a stop to get the ball back.
Yes, the game felt out of reach, but the team had fought hard all afternoon long, and it seemed they’d look to make one more push for a stop and an offensive drive at the end of the game.
However, after Michigan got only four yards on first down on a run, head coach Luke Fickell elected to run 40 seconds off the clock and let the game go to the two-minute warning, despite having three timeouts. He did the same thing when the Wolverines got only two yards on 2nd & 6, letting the clock go all the way down to 1:05.
Michigan ultimately got the first down, but it felt like the head coach had given up on his team, which hadn’t given up on him all afternoon long. What was the reason behind not calling timeouts on that final drive?
“If we had gotten the stops, it was going to be the timeouts,” Fickell said after the game. “I thought that where we were and how many points we needed, we needed to have opportunities on offense. The one was right before the two-minute warning. I said, ‘guys, hey, if we can get a stop, maybe put them in a situation where they might have to throw to keep the ball, and then we are gonna call the timeouts.’
“Then, we get our offense shots with timeouts, as opposed to a situation where you call them, and you can’t stop them. It was more put on our guys, where you stop them, call timeouts, and get our guys the ball back with timeouts so we can play football. That was kind of the decision.”
If that was truly Fickell’s logic, it’s an incredibly flawed thought process from an experienced head coach. While the timeouts on offense would be beneficial, nearly two minutes of clock ran between first and fourth down. Fickell could’ve easily called timeouts after first and second down, and still gotten the offense the ball back before the two-minute warning had Wisconsin gotten a stop.
Yes, the Badgers were down 2 scores and there probably wasn’t a realistic chance of coming back. But, the end of Saturday’s game was either another case of poor clock management from Luke Fickell or a head coach giving up on his team.
Regardless, it was a disappointing finish to a tough game for the Badgers.
