Head coach Luke Fickell’s quest to dig the University of Wisconsin Badgers (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) out of the worst Big Ten start of his Badger career failed on Saturday night as the Badgers got shutout by the Iowa Hawkeyes in a 37-0 loss.
Saturday’s game came into a Camp Randall packed with over 76,000 fans, according to in-stadium announcements, as the culmination of Homecoming Week.
Homecoming Week saw Badger fans Fill the Hill and enjoy a parade down State Street. The game also featured a throwback for Wisconsin’s, unveiling a vintage uniform and logos.
Questions over who would start at quarterback for the Badgers rang around Madison in the week leading up to the game, as first-string quarterback, grad student Billy Edwards Jr. remained out after his week-one injury.
Backup quarterback, sophomore Danny O’Neil also did not start and instead remained the backup for the third-string quarterback, redshirt senior Hunter Simmons.
Simmons, who got his first FBS start against Michigan last week, struggled to move the ball in throughout the game, completing just eight of his 21 pass attempts for 82 yards alongside two interceptions and a fumble.
Those eight completions are the fewest by the Badgers since the 15-14 triumph over Nebraska in 2022, where Graham Mertz went 8-for-18 for 83 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
“No disrespect to Hunter [Simmons], but there probably was an opportunity or some situation where we should’ve went in the other direction [with Danny O’Neil],” Fickell said postgame.
Boos rang out after the first play on offense for the Badgers, but not for the reason you might think.
Simmons floated a pass toward the sideline to redshirt sophomore receiver Trech Kekahuna, but after review, the officials determined that his foot was out of bounds and ruled the pass incomplete.
On the very next play, Kekahuna ran the ball toward the right-hand side and took a big shot from the Iowa defenders, forcing the ball out for a fumble. He stayed on the ground and had to be helped by trainers to the locker room, where he’d be ruled out with an upper-body injury.
After another review, however, the officials ruled that Kekahuna’s knee was down before the fumble, and Wisconsin retained possession. The Badgers failed to convert on third-and-8, and after punting the ball back to the Hawkeyes, forced a 32-yard field goal, giving Iowa a 3-0 lead.
.sno-68ec996bd44f6 {
background-color: #ffffff;border: 5px solid #888888;box-shadow: -1px 0 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 12%), 1px 0 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 12%), 0 1px 1px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 24%);margin: 30px auto; float: none;}
.sno-68ec996bd44f6 h5 {
color: #000000;
}
Things went from bad to worse for the Badgers on their second drive, as a tipped pass fell into the hands of the Iowa defense at the 24-yard line. The great field position allowed the Hawkeyes to rush the ball in from the four-yard line, extending the lead to 10-0.
The collapse continued on the following drive, as the Hawkeye defense blew up a short pass to the right, snagging the ball for an interception and nearly a pick six – the replay booth once again stepped in and ruled the ball down at the one-yard line. Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski jumped over the defensive line for the easy touchdown.
“Had it [the game] not started the way it did, with the turnovers, at least it would’ve been a hell of a lot different,” Fickell said.
Now down 17-0 in the first quarter, the Badgers needed something to stop the Hawkeye onslaught – and the boos ringing around Camp Randall, which rained onto the field alongside chants of ‘let’s go home’ and ‘fire Fickell’ from the crowd.
That something came right at the end of the first quarter from grad student Ricardo Hallman, who snagged an interception to try and swing the momentum in favor of the Badgers.
But, in what seemed to become a trend for the Badgers, Simmons’ errant backward pass resulted in a fumble recovery for the Hawkeyes, killing any momentum that Hallman had gained.
Sophomore running back Darrion Dupree, who had three rushes for 10 yards up to that point, tried to recover the ball but took an awkward hit and had to be helped off the field with a lower-body injury.
Two Hawkeye field goals later and Iowa led 23-0 heading into the halftime break.
“This is not an easy fix, we have a hell of a long way to go,” Fickell said. “There’s only one way to go, and it’s through it.”
The halftime stats looked as bleak as the score line for Badger fans, with only 117 yards of total offense, three turnovers and one-for-five on third-down conversions.
.sno-68ec996bd6835 {
background-color: #ffffff;border: 5px solid #888888;box-shadow: -1px 0 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 12%), 1px 0 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 12%), 0 1px 1px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 24%);margin: 30px auto; float: none;}
.sno-68ec996bd6835 h5 {
color: #000000;
}
The second half flew by thanks to Iowa’s running the ball on almost every play and Wisconsin’s slow-moving offense.
Iowa’s run game continued to work, as the Hawkeyes were able to bleed time from the clock and tacked on 29-yard and 19-yard touchdowns in the second half, giving them the 37-0 lead that would give them the victory.
“You get some ass whoopings, and at some point in time you figure out if you’re sick of it or you’re not, and that’s where we are as a program right now,” Fickell said. “We gotta figure out whether we’re tired of it and figure something out, that’s what I’m going to do.”
The stat sheet did not improve in the second half, with the Badgers only gaining 92 total yards. Over the course of the game, grad student tight end Lance Mason led the Badgers in receiving yards with one catch for 29 yards – the only play of 20+ yards for Wisconsin.
Redshirt freshman running back Dilin Jones represented a bright spot for the Badgers, rushing 16 times for 69 yards. Junior Christian Alliegro commanded the defense with 10 tackles and a pass breakup.
“Right this second, we’re not feeling real good,” Fickell said. “… We’re not better than most of the people, or maybe anybody right now that we’re playing.”
Wisconsin’s schedule does not help the Badgers at the moment, with Saturday, Oct. 18’s matchup against No. 1 Ohio State starting a streak of tough upcoming opponents. Of the final six games of the season, the opponents have a combined record of 31-6 and four are ranked – No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Indiana and No. 17 Illinois.
