All the usual doom and gloom of the 2025 Wisconsin football season was present in their 34-0 loss to the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall last Saturday, but a handful of Badgers did stand out.
Special Teams: Sean West
Sean West, initially Wisconsin’s backup punter, joined the Badgers as a freshman in 2024 after winning the Kevin Stemke Award, given to Wisconsin’s top high school senior punter or kicker. , in his senior year of high school.
Against Ohio State, he replaced Atticus Bertrams as starter on the depth chart.
“I found out on Wednesday when my coach told me they might rotate me in, and I obviously was really excited because I’ve been dreaming of stuff like this since I was a kid,” West said.
On Saturday, West kicked for 337 yards in total and averaged 52.6 yards per kick, with his longest going for 62 yards into the endzone.
“What an incredible job he did today. Sean has shown us over and over again on a consistent basis that he’s got a really good leg,” Fickell said postgame.
But the spotlight of his performance came at the very beginning of the fourth quarter. On a 4th and 19 at their own 16-yard line, Wisconsin had no choice but to punt it away — putting West back onto the field. In a completely unexpected turn of events, West decided to fake the punt and took the ball 20 yards for a first down.
“I just caught the snap and figured I had some time to look up. I saw that everyone kind of dipped out and ran away so I started to nudge closer and nobody came, so I just ran for it,” West said in a postgame interview. “I ended up putting a couple moves on some guys and getting the first down so that was a sweet moment.”
Ironically, this 20-yard rushing play was Wisconsin’s longest rushing play of the game and arguably the most electric moment for the Badgers. When asked about how he got the confidence to do that, West said, “We make jokes with guys on the team about punters being able to do that, but I pride myself on being a good athlete as well as a good punter/kicker.”
Fickell was all praise about West’s decision to fake the punt, saying, “The play that he made was not something that was called. But it’s a case of a young guy making a play. He beat two of their better players and so there’s a bright spot in a kid that’s dying to be here.”
And West seems to be doing exactly that. Although he’s mentioned his friendly relationship with starting punter Atticus Bertrams countless times, West could find himself on the way to the starting role. “Starter and the backup. You know, you’re always pushing each other to do better and I think it’s great for our [locker] room,” he said.
Defense: Christian Alliegro, Cooper Catalano
Linebacker Christian Alliegro has always been regarded as one of the Badgers’ top defensive players, and he showed why against Ohio State. Alliegro broke his right arm during the first quarter and had to have it casted up for the rest of the game, but still went out and played admirably.
“There’s some notable guys that we need to continue to build around and in case you were wondering Christian Alliegro broke his arm in the first quarter,” Fickell said. “They took him and X-rayed it and he casted it up and played every snap from there on out. Came in at halftime, casted it even bigger and played the whole of the second half. Because he cares. Because he’s not going to let his brothers down.”
Alliegro had teammates praising him after the game, saying, “I wouldn’t expect anything less from Christian. I didn’t even know he broke his hand and it goes to show he didn’t bat an eye. He came out and still played well for us.”
Despite the physical struggle Alliegro was going through on the field, he finished the game tied for second-most tackles at six, and led in tackles for loss at two.
Cooper Catalano, who signed with Badgers in 2025, has emerged as one of the team’s most promising young defensive players. Against the Buckeyes, Catalano had two tackles, one for a loss.
“Young guys like Cooper Catalano battled his ass off. Freshman like him being thrown out there and seeing him compete and not bat an eye, I think that’s what we’re going to have to continue to build around,” Fickell said.
Fickell’s vision for the future seems clear: improving his team through developing young players.
“I think there’s a nucleus of young guys that are going to continue to drive this culture as we find ways to get better and find ways to win football games,” he said.
Whether he will be successful is a different story.
Wisconsin will rely on those young players to continue to provide support as the Badgers go on the road Saturday to face the No. 6 Oregon Ducks.
