Badgers football 26-27

[Pkrjones]

You think they'll keep him if he gets to a Bowl, even if it is a minor one?

Joseph's success may keep the Badgers over .500 and save Fickel's job for '27. The program was in a downward spiral since his hire, but any success may keep him in Madison.

 

[gopkrs]

The little I have seen. The Badgers seem to play with enthusiasm. Winning helps that happen. But I think it also comes from the coaching and getting some good players. I am much more of a Packer fan but I can't see why anyone would be calling for Fickel's head. As opposed to, say, LaFleur's. Or Gute's.

 

[Firethorn1001]

Fickell makes MLF look like Ben Johnson for play calling. Punting < 5 minutes and down 2 scores? I know it's 3rd and 8, but sorry.. gotta try. Even if you give up 3 its still 2 scores.

 

[Voyageur]

I thought the Badgers defense played quite well yesterday. Holding UCLA to 120 yards rushing considering they average over 250 yards a game rushing was great. Of course, to do it, you give away some avenues in the passing game but allowing only 2 TDs and a FG against UCLA is pretty darned good.

On offense. Three sacks. A lot of rushed passes because of the pass rush. Joseph being forced to run for his life. The offensive line is still a work in progress. It's not close enough to be in a position to help the Badgers be a Big 10 contender. As for Joseph, with a better offensive line his results would have been a lot better. There seemed to be a disconnect between Joseph and the receivers on a lot of passing plays. They'd break right, he'd throw it as if they were going to break left. At first, I blamed it on bad communications, a disconnect between the QB and receivers and then I got to thinking about the rush in Joseph's face. Since many of those throws were actually released before the player made his cut, they might have been more intentional on the part of our QB. Why? Because he was often releasing the ball a fraction of a second early and couldn't see whether or not his receiver was going to be open or it would turn into an INT. He was choosing to throw it into an undefended area to ensure it wasn't intercepted.

The missed FG? Too bad it happened. It would have made it a one score game. But it did, and we have a solid kicker, so it doesn't bother me. He's going to continue to do fine.

The biggest problem is that we are going to lose a lot of our top-level players through graduation and some of our underclassmen with talent to the portal where big money will be awaiting them. My opinion? With the right amount of NIL money to pull in talent that can truly compete for a national title probably isn't in the cards but at this point, I don't think Fickell is doing a bad job this year with the hand he's been dealt when it comes to NIL.

To be candid, I'm one of the people who was suggesting he should have been fired, but as I watch the team week after week, I can see the coaching isn't bad, what's lacking is the total talent across the board that makes you a top contender.

 

[gopkrs]

I only saw the 1st half but agreed with the announcer when he said they should have thrown more on first down. They were predictable and getting nowhere running on 1st down. So I didn't like the offensive play calling. Protection was poor but UCLA pretty much knew when they were going to pass imho.