Last Saturday in Tuscaloosa, the Wisconsin Badgers got embarrassed. Playing against the then No. 19 Alabama Crimson Tide, Wisconsin committed stupid penalties, turned the ball over at will, was shredded in the secondary, failed to generate any sort of consistent pass rush and played with little poise or confidence.
The result was a 38-14 blowout. For the Badgers of recent, it was just more of the same. Alabama was not only out of Wisconsin’s league, but Wisconsin showed up sloppy in a game where they had no choice but to play clean.
Wisconsin was bludgeoned almost from the get-go. Their six penalties for 67 yards and two turnovers didn't help.
After Wisconsin’s first drive fizzled out with a 15-yard pass interference, the Badgers actually held Alabama’s offense in check for four plays.
Then, on the first play of the Badger’s next drive, Wisconsin quarterback Danny O’Neil lofted a ball directly to Crimson Tide cornerback Bray Hubbard. It was the exact type of play Wisconsin could not afford.
Alabama punished Wisconsin’s mistake by swiftly taking over the game.
Quarterback Ty Simpson torched Wisconsin’s undermatched secondary all afternoon, connecting with receivers Ryan Williams, Germie Bernard and Isaiah Horton in a never-ending, ever-demoralizing attack. And as Simpson and company put three straight touchdowns on the board, Wisconsin’s offense disappointingly responded with consecutive punts.
By halftime, it was 21-0, a blowout in the making.
When Williams outran the Badger defense for an insulting 75-yard touchdown on the second half’s first play, it was abundantly clear Saturday’s game was yet another masterclass of undisciplined play, adding to the long list of clunkers Wisconsin fans have had to endure in three years of head coach Luke Fickell.
“We knew we had to come out here in the first half in particular and play solid, play poised, play confident,” Fickell said after the game. “And it’s exactly opposite of what we did, so it’s tough to swallow.”
With Fickell in charge, Wisconsin is now 0-7 against ranked opponents, and in their two matchups with Alabama, the Badgers have been outscored 80-24.
“We know that this was a measuring stick," Fickell said. “We’re not measuring up to where we want to be or expect to be.”
This is nothing new. Over the last three seasons, the Badgers have had no shortage of big games. Wisconsin has played USC, Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon, as well as Alabama and Iowa twice. Each of these match-ups acted as measuring sticks, with conversation leading up to them revolving around whether Fickell would be able to get Wisconsin over the hump. And each time, Wisconsin has fallen flat.
A program once used to winning on the biggest stages is now conditioned to fall short.
This trend grew old long ago, and with five of Wisconsin’s next seven games coming against teams currently in the AP Top 25, the Badgers must figure out a way to correct their losing ways so their final record will resemble any sort of a successful season.
“We just can’t have this all season. It’s going to be a disaster of a season,” Badgers left tackle Riley Mahlman said in a postgame interview.
The fact that Wisconsin, an 18.5 point underdog, lost isn’t what rattles Badger nation. It was that Wisconsin showed again their lack of playing resiliently.
The Badgers needed near-perfection, and within five minutes of game action, their quarterback had already committed a grave mistake. Fickell spoke of a week of good preparation, yet his team once again looked fully overmatched.
These kinds of performances have, ugly enough, become the norm under Fickell. If they continue the rest of the year, this season will be, as Mahlman said, a “disaster.”
