The Wisconsin Badgers are beginning to find their groove.
The 2026 season was always going to be tipped as the make-or-break season under Luke Fickell, and so far he has passed all the requisite tests.
What has made this season different?
Through last season’s 4-8 record, the blame was rarely on the defense. The Badgers allowed just 21.6 points per game, ranking inside the top 40 in the country, and inside the top 25 in total defense at 323.6 yards allowed per game.
Instead, it was firmly shifted towards an offense that ranked at the bottom of every major metric.
However, under the team’s second-year offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, the tide is beginning to turn.
The Badgers rank inside the top 50 in third-down conversion rate (44.64%) and No. 63 in total offensive yards per game
at 372.8 yards per game. Combining that with a defense still churning teams to a halt under Mike Tressel, and you are finding complementary football for the first time since Fickell’s arrival.
There is also something to be said about the resilience of this team
The last two weeks have shown a lot about this makeup of the Badgers. The first instance came from being down by 17 points at Penn State. In a daunting environment like Beaver Stadium, and in the first conference game of the season, a lot of teams would have folded.
Instead, the Badgers chipped away slowly but surely, brought the Nittany Lions’ momentum to a halt, and took advantage at the right time in their 24-20 win.
The second came back at home against the Michigan State Spartans. While Michigan State is rebuilding under Pat Fitzgerald, this was a let-down spot after the week prior, and instead the Badgers left no doubt in their 31-3 destruction of another Big Ten opponent.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: How Wisconsin football got off to second 4-1 start in last seven years
