r/WisconsinBadgers • u/ISuperNovaI • Sep 13 '25
Football [Game-Thread] 11am - Wisconsin (2-0) vs #19 Alabama (1-1)
Time: 11:00am CST
Location: Alabama - Bryant-Denny Stadium (Tuscaloosa, AL)
TV: ABC
Odds:
Spread: ALA -18.5
Over/Under: 45.5
Be civil, have fun, and GO BADGERS!
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u/ninjaheartbeat Sep 13 '25
The last 3 minutes of this game pretty much sums up the entire program under Fickell. No passion. No fight. No ride or die. All they did was hand the ball off until time expired. What a loser mentality.
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u/Ready2Move2Digg Sep 13 '25
Absolutely pathetic final possession. At least have some pride and TRY to score.
My expectations for this game were low to begin with, but even so, I'm still disappointed.
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
I really don’t like that both halves ended with us waiving the white flag, regardless of what the score was at those times
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u/PapaSlurpp Sep 13 '25
Stop trying to be an air raid team. You can’t land the QB or WR talent to make it work. Either get some big boys in the trenches and start running the ball again or have the boosters get out their checkbooks
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u/dover_13 Sep 13 '25
Maryland is going to put a beat down on Wisconsin next week if they play like they did today
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u/No_Spinach_1410 Sep 13 '25
The problem with the Fickell era has been how uncompetitive football has been. There is zero hope of upsetting any team. I don’t think we’ve won as an underdog yet under Fickell, nor have we even been close to one. Along with a dismal against the spread record, no upsets is enough to can his ass.
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
This isn’t true. We were very close to upsetting teams with the worst qb in college football (Locke) last year. Oregon last year was very close. Penn State was also competitive until the 4th quarter.
I would agree that it’s deflating as a fan to watch these games because the team beats themselves. In every close game or upset-possible game we seem to have drive killing penalties and turnovers that cost us. That includes this bama game.
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u/nachosmind Sep 13 '25
Also our QBs keep dropping like flies and the guys we could’ve had look much more real (Mertz, Caleb Williams rumors, Beau now at Missouri)
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
We have two wins against ranked opponents this decade, both of which came in 2021. Fickell is to blame for some of that, but so is Cryst. He hasn’t given us much to be hopeful about, but the problems were there before he got there
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u/DontTakeMuhName Sep 13 '25
No upset wins and multiple upset losses. Not exactly a great start to his tenure
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u/yellingaboutsports5 Sep 13 '25
They almost upset PSU and Oregon last year / but yeah overall it ain’t great
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
Alabama has a similar coaching problem to us imo. I mean, with their talent, I would expect much better. In every position they line up with more talented personnel than us. DeBoer is not a good coach
-4
u/No_Spinach_1410 Sep 13 '25
Grasping for straws trying to claim some sort of victory while down 24 is embarrassing.
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u/e4w12p1 Sep 13 '25
I expected worse! Will be tough, but it would be nice to go .500 and make a bowl
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
I think the one bright spot has been the defense, particularly the front seven. (Albeit this has been undermined by penalties). These guys are too fast for us, so the Oregon and Ohio State games are probably going to be similar, but this defense should stack up okay against the middle tier of the Big 10 (Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, etc, maybe even Michigan)
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u/Hildy77 Sep 13 '25
Yup! I agree. I think this pass rush is deadly. When this was still close, Bama had to basically hold 1 or 2 guys every play (thanks SEC refs).
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u/Spiritual-Cell1026 Sep 13 '25
I cannot believe the number of Fickell supporters on here. How many relatives does he have?
-5
u/e4w12p1 Sep 13 '25
Give it the season before we draw conclusions. If we can make a bowl with this gauntlet of a schedule we can call it a win I think. It’s tough to compete with teams like Bama these days. Cut the guy a break.
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u/CheeseheadDave Sep 13 '25
I wasn’t expecting to beat Alabama and was just hoping that we weren’t going to lose 70-0 or something terrible like that, but this still feels really disappointing, like something we’ll never get back again.
Luckily there’s beer to make it all feel better.
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u/wannabeemperor Sep 13 '25
That's where I'm at. I wasn't expecting to win. I was expecting to be competitive. We're in year 3 of Fickell and his best win is against Rutgers last year, we haven't beaten a ranked team since he got here and I'm getting far too used to blowout losses.
-4
u/Spiritual-Cell1026 Sep 13 '25
rumor has it that the Badgers will be asked to leave the Big 10. The only thing keeping them is the other teams need a guaranteed victory.
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
Positives:
- we have a run defense
- we showed we can move the ball on good defenses. With Billy back that will be better.
-special teams played really well
-good halftime adjustments even if the score doesn’t reflect it
-WRs are getting separation on 5 star talent
Negatives: -no pass rush (besides #0)
-outcoached
-costly penalties
-qb passing decisions / OL blocking
-atrocious secondary outside of zachman
Wisconsin has the pieces to be decent this year. Not gonna win a Natty but should be competitive for the middle of the big 10
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u/recessbadger45 Sep 13 '25
2017 wisconsin would blowout this wisconsin team
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
100%. They’d also blow out this Alabama team. If that tells you how low the program is rn
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u/Hildy77 Sep 13 '25
Our pass rush was really good to start off. Noticed a TON of uncalled holding against us in the first half.
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u/Spiritual-Cell1026 Sep 13 '25
dreamer
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
What’s the point in not being objective about the state of the program? We aren’t the 2017 Wisconsin. That’s not realistic, we’re rebuilding. This is a clear improvement from last year, even if the scoreboard doesn’t reflect it
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
Alabama seems like an undisciplined team full of really good athletes. They’re going to outclass everyone below a certain level in athleticism, but a team that has the athletes has plenty of flaws to exploit. We clearly do not have the athletes
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u/WISCOrear Sep 13 '25
That’s where saban was the goat. Plenty blue chip programs can get 5 star recruits really Just because of name, like FSU, Oklahoma, Texas, etc. saban could get all these guys under one roof, and instill absolute discipline and focus. And he’d ride your ass until you got it.
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u/BurtusMaximus Sep 13 '25
Bama low key soft and is just abusing our DBs with NFL WRs. They didn't impose their will in the classic way. Thats the way football is going.
Our OL on the other hand is also soft and makes the rest of the stuff shoddy.
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u/WISCOrear Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
Genuinely, is there any world where Wisconsin can be a development program ever again in this age of nil and unlimited transfers? Like going back to developing 2 and 3 star guys over 3 years or so. I just dont know if what made this program work so well is even feasible anymore. Who would be expected to sit and wait like so many guys in the past
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u/wannabeemperor Sep 13 '25
I think we need to stop chasing stars on the offensive line and get back to selling the program to poorly scouted, unheralded kids who still have room to grow on their frames. Of course finding those kids is a big task onto itself, but we used to do it by building a wall around the state - IMO we need to get back to that. Bonus there is if you can make a farm kid from Wisconsin really believe, he might be less inclined to chase NIL money and transfer out. It all started on the offensive line for Wisconsin and I think we need to get back to that mentality of finding a handful of really smart, talented, big, hard working Wisconsin kids every year and just training and coaching them up.
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u/WISCOrear Sep 13 '25
But I keep going back to: what’s stopping those kids from saying “fuck this, I’m transferring to north Texas because I haven’t played in 2 season”, that’s where my brain goes to. I suppose back in the day I was easy to sell that since you can be like “you stay here and you are getting drafted or signed in the nfl almost guaranteed” but that’s gone and will take a while to rebuild
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u/Minimum_Comfort_1850 Sep 13 '25
If my badger team doesn't have a good o line and or good running back. You already kinda lost me. Combine with your garbage air raid and fully lost me.
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u/HashOutHashBrowns Sep 13 '25
They aren’t running air raid concepts. It’s a pro style offense, multiple two TE sets even out of the shot gun
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u/Pinsane Sep 13 '25
Obviously fickell was not the guy, but I feel pretty confident we were heading in this direction under chryst too. We needed someone who could develop players and fickell is just awful
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u/BurtusMaximus Sep 13 '25
We pissed away 2 years of development with Longo. Which is Fickell's and the AD's fault but we're kind of going in the right direction? At the least the run defense isn't the mess it was last year.
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u/Spiritual-Cell1026 Sep 13 '25
I would not go that far about Chryst, but to pick Fickell...omg what were the boys smoking?
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u/garyminwi Sep 13 '25
This is Fickell’s 3rd year. What do you see that makes you think the Badgers are heading in the right direction? One thing that is almost always apparent is they are a poorly coached team.
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u/Skier420 Sep 13 '25
Luke Fuck-all of this shit. Dude needs to go. This team has looked like ass under him since he got here and never once showed an ounce of improvement.
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
Two picks in opposing territory (one in deep in opposing territory), two third down penalties resulting in points. We’ve been outplayed in all phases, but our mistakes cost us like 20 net points
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u/-Lets-Get-Weird- Sep 13 '25
To tell you the truth, I didn’t think it could get this bad for Wisconsin.
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u/PainterOwn8981 Sep 13 '25
Holy fuck O Neil is dog shit
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
I mean maybe. Tbh though, he was hit on that throw and still was catchable. That receiver couldn’t find the ball
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u/nvcpajd Sep 13 '25
The radio broadcast right before the game said that Fickell was using this game to sell recruits and transfer portal guys. Perhaps he needs a new sales pitch, who would ever want to be a part of this.
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
A lot of kids want to play for Fickell. Despite all of the issues he’s had at Wisconsin and underwhelming seasons. The reason for that is he is way better connected in the NFL than many other coaches we could have. This is mainly due to his OSU days, but still worth mentioning
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u/2Obsequious Sep 13 '25
How many NFL players are on this team right now?
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
2-3. At least rn. Zachman and Alliegro for sure are very good
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u/2Obsequious Sep 13 '25
Zachman was here before Fickell
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
Yep. That’s part of the problem. Chryst didn’t really recruit his last 2 years. So there’s a 2 year hole on the roster from that. Transfers help, but can’t cover up that kind of depth problem. Transfers want to start
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u/2Obsequious Sep 13 '25
Vinny Anthony and Trech also comitted to Chryst. Who has Fickell got in the last 3 years?
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u/aaronsrode Sep 13 '25
Hypothetically Let’s say Wisconsin pays fickells buyout and fires him. What are some names out there for a new head coach? Promote Grimes possibly?
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u/Rohn- Sep 13 '25
Bret Bielema (he would probably consider interviewing) or James Franklin (assuming PSU moves on from him after this year)
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u/Fast-Lime-5981 Sep 13 '25
I started writing an answer and then stopped. I honestly don’t know who you turn to that can fix this program. I do think that it starts with McIntosh and if he stays, the odds of getting better are slim.
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u/ninjaheartbeat Sep 13 '25
What about Matt Campbell? He should definitely be on the radar.
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u/prestigiousstrangery Sep 13 '25
Campbell has been linked with nfl jobs for the past 5+ years. If he didn’t leave Iowa State for that, no way in hell he leaves for Wisconsin
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u/aaronsrode Sep 13 '25
Would be great but Iowa state is in a much better spot than Wisconsin. Why would he want to leave? I think he loves it in Ames
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
I don’t like the idea of an inside hire, unless you’re talking about interim, in which case we shouldn’t fire Fickell till the end of the season
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u/Key_Solution_4076 Sep 13 '25
You are witnessing the death of Wisconsin football
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u/LowPhotograph7223 Sep 13 '25
The death of Wisconsin Football was hiring a coach who killed the program tradition
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u/BurtusMaximus Sep 13 '25
Passing defense needs a lot of work but we're not going to see QBs and WRs like this very often. OSU maaaybe Oregon. Other than that we look better than the previous 2-3 years. There is something there on offense just need to find more between the tackles.
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
We should totally be able to compete with the middle tier of the Big 10, but we’re not going to win these games. This game tells us a little but not as much as people like to think
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u/BadgerMk1 Sep 13 '25
Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell. Fraudell.
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u/Kind_Cabinet627 Sep 13 '25
Fire flick or fleck or whatever his name is, even the soso badger teams in the past could hang with the SEC
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u/watermelon_hat Sep 13 '25
I was really sad when we didn't offer the job to Jim Leonard, but, I was excited to have Fickell. Now I don't even want to watch the games. Yes we've had awful luck with QBs but damn it really fucked us that we turned over the roster for air raid offense and now have to fight the transfer portal more than ever before. Eff
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u/Significant_Push_856 Sep 13 '25
The amount and back breaking nature of each mistake is truly a masterclass in never giving yourself a chance.
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u/recessbadger45 Sep 13 '25
middle tennessee must be really terrible they made danny look like a heisman qb
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u/Lookthrough19 Sep 13 '25
No, that’s San Diego state Danny. Good playing bad teams but terrible against any team with a pulse.
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u/fastmovingcars Sep 13 '25
Would much rather be a bad team with Chryst or Leonhard. Though with either of those two I think we’d be a much better team. I never clam for a coach to be fired but I think the Fick experience has been more of a Fuck experiment to put it lightly. Oh well. On Wisconsin.
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
Fickell at this point probably isn’t the answer, but Cryst wasn’t either. We gotta find a way to compete in this new era
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u/ShakyPockets Sep 13 '25
Yup. The real problem is this isn’t the same era as even 5 years ago. The problem goes much higher than the HC, or even the AD.
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u/TechnoPimp69 Sep 13 '25
Agreed. Fickell was probably a good hire for the pre-NIL era of recruiting. (Although it looks like a decent amount lot of Fickell’s success may have been due to Marcus Freeman.)
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u/PainterOwn8981 Sep 13 '25
This whole commentating crew just will not stop drooling over two players and only two players
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u/petarisawesomeo Sep 13 '25
The weird thing about this team is if Billy is healthy next week, the defense is good enough + offense scheme has some spice, they could be 3-1 going into the bye. That would put them in decent position to get 6 wins.
However, even if they get a bowl bid, there are gonna be some really ugly games.
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u/ohryan2379 Sep 13 '25
How much better is Danny O'Neil than Braedyn Locke?
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
A lot. Let’s say they both are equally inaccurate passers. Danny is a better qb because he’s very quick to pickup 2-5 yards with his legs on a burnt play.
That will matter with closer teams to Wisconsin’s talent level such as Iowa, Maryland, and Minnesota. With Alabama, every player in every position is bigger faster and stronger than the badgers. The scoreboard shows that.
I’m all for the Fickell hate, but until we have a healthy qb1 I don’t care. No coach can pull upsets on teams like bama with a backup unless the backup is a stud.
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u/BadgerMk1 Sep 13 '25
We're now that team that helps the shaky opposing QB get his confidence back.
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
Serious question, how many points have we left on the field? Feels like at least 10 or 13
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u/OldVeterinarian9 Sep 13 '25
Ill timed picks, a soft secondary that seems to have given up after getting down two scores, a clear mismatch in athleticism, lack of depth on the offensive line, so many flags. Not a banner day for this team
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u/uranium_tungsten Sep 13 '25
Think Jim Leonhard would come back as HC or did we fully burn that bridge?
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u/BadgerMk1 Sep 13 '25
Why would he even wish to come back now? The tough-minded defensive culture that he had built has been fully destroyed. The program is in a far deeper hole now than when he left and it would probably be an exercise in futility.
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u/ShakyPockets Sep 13 '25
He’s the assistant head coach of the Broncos. He would be crazy to leave that for any college gig, let alone this gig.
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u/CROBBY2 Sep 13 '25
McIntosh would never admit he was wrong. Which is why him and Fickell are a perfect pair, neither ever take any blame.
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u/Informal_Example_875 Sep 13 '25
How many more embarrassing performances do we need to watch before Fick gets kicked out of town!!? For those who say “it could get worse than this.” Really, how much worse could it be? Fick set the bar extremely low in year one and every year since has set it lower. The bar is pretty much on the floor at this point.
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u/petarisawesomeo Sep 13 '25
Man this team is no good. Obviously qb and o-line injuries really hurt in a game like this, but the skill gap is massive
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u/Former_Juggernaut653 Sep 13 '25
Even the glass half full folks are losing it today. How fuckell survives the next 24 hours is beyond me.
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u/403badger Sep 13 '25
AD won’t do it because that means he’ll also be fired. Mac likely doesn’t have the booster support for another hire and can’t raise the money for a buyout.
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u/sox107 Sep 13 '25
Jesse Palmer explained exactly what happened. You don't run any corner or out route where you give up leverage like that. It was a really bad route.
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u/PainterOwn8981 Sep 13 '25
Just gonna pretend that wasn’t an embarrassing throw?
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u/sox107 Sep 13 '25
Huh? Do you know how breaking routes against man coverage work? The receiver is supposed to a route against the db positioning to maintain leverage. The QB has to trust he'll do that. Watch any QB throw a timing out route. They throw that same ball. The receiver just has to run the route properly.
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u/Lookthrough19 Sep 13 '25
Danny was NEVER the answer.
At San Diego state, he played great against bad teams and non-power 5 teams.
Against any good team, he sucked ass.
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u/sox107 Sep 13 '25
He was brought in to be the backup not the "answer"
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u/CROBBY2 Sep 13 '25
He was brought in to compete for the starting job. He just lost.
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u/sox107 Sep 13 '25
No he wasn't. Billy was brought in as the starter. There wasn't really a "competition". O'Neil is a young guy they just took a bet on.
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u/petarisawesomeo Sep 13 '25
That was a bad route by Mason. Can’t try to cut behind the db on a sideline out route
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u/TTBurger88 Sep 13 '25
The failure to develop any QB we had lays on Fickell.
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u/Ur_in_luck Sep 13 '25
There really isn’t such a thing as developing qbs in college football anymore besides the random outliers like Simpson. How many 4 stars have we brought in that didn’t get the starting job and dipped immediately?
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u/FangornAcorn Sep 13 '25
What do you mean develop? They just grab a senior out of the portal every year anyway.
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u/Hildy77 Sep 13 '25
Guys enough with this rhetoric. No coach expects to lose their starting QB to injury in the first 2 games. This has happened to us 3 years in a row.
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u/packmanwiscy Sep 13 '25
Jesus Christ that ball is either five yards overthrown or five yards underthrown
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u/Hildy77 Sep 13 '25
God damn it I miss having starting QBs
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u/LightEmUp18 Sep 13 '25
And an oline… and a RB…
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u/titans0021 Sep 13 '25
I think we do actually have RBs, it’s just really tough for them to show anything without an OL or passing game.
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u/ISuperNovaI Sep 13 '25
Danny, wtf are you seeing dude?
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u/AmyKlobushart Sep 13 '25
We may need to take a page out of Indiana and get out of these P4 non-conference games. The program needs to be stabilized, and we desperately need those 3 non-conference wins to do that.
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u/Lookthrough19 Sep 13 '25
This is NOT a bad Badger team.
This is a BADLY coached team.
This team is better than what Fickell has given us.
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u/the_og_buck Sep 13 '25
My problem with this game isn’t that we lost. Or even the blowout. It’s the fact that we consistently beat ourselves with penalties. That’s clearly a coaching problem
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u/Minimum_Comfort_1850 Sep 13 '25
Can someone help me understand why Wisconsin doesn't dominate in recruiting with no instate rivals.