Luke Fickell lost for words following Wisconsin’s debacle at Iowa

IOWA CITY, Ia. — It’s no mystery that the Badgers walked into a snakepit when they invaded Kinnick Stadium Saturday, and the Blackout crowd was a factor throughout the night.

Iowa annihilated Wisconsin 42-10, which was the program’s worst loss at Kinnick Stadium since 1968, and Coach Luke Fickell could do nothing but watch, as his players struggled on both sides of the ball. No one expected the matchup to be a rout, considering the battle for the Heartland Trophy usually goes down to the wire.

However, that wasn’t the case, as Iowa (6-3) opened up the floodgates in the second half, and outscored Wisconsin 28-7. Now the Badgers have lost three-straight in the series for the first time since 2003-05, and four of the last five overall. Not to mention Iowa led Wisconsin in total offense, plays, first downs, third down efficiency, yards per play and time of possession, which frustrated Fickell.

“There’s not a whole lot words can say to explain how I feel, it’s really tough to put into words right now, and we’re going to have to pick ourselves up, move forward and make sure that we’re better,” Fickell said. November is for the time you find out what you’re made of, and that’s not a good showing for what it is that we’re made of.”

The Badgers got off to a promising start though. Quarterback Braedyn Locke led the offense on a 12-play, 59-yard scoring drive on Wisconsin’s opening possession, that took over six minutes off the clock, and ended with a field goal by Nathanial Vakos.

Wisconsin (5-4) went into a scoring drought after that, and a light bulb came on with the Iowa players. The Hawkeyes pounded away with bruising running back Kaleb Johnson, and quarterback Brendan Sullivan used his mobility to extend plays. Johnson rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Sullivan also added a rushing score, as Iowa led 14-3 heading into halftime.

The Badgers had no answer for the Hawkeyes’ offense, and it made matters worse that Locke didn’t receive no help from his supporting cast. Wisconsin barely could run the ball, and Locke threw an interception to linebacker Nick Jackson.

The second half was even more embarrassing for Fickell’s squad. The Hawkeyes scored 28 unanswered points, including two additional rushing scores from Johnson, their offensive line dominated in the trenches and clearly Fickell’s adjustments weren’t working.

“I don’t know if there’s one thing you can point at, obviously to be able to stop the run no matter what you do, you gotta do better job of, and you gotta be able to run the football when you come on the road in an environment like this,” he said. “If you don’t play complimentary football, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”

After going scoreless in the second and third quarter, Wisconsin finally found the endzone early in the final 15 minutes of the contest. Although Locke threw another interception, he led the Badgers on a 10-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, that ended with him connecting with wideout CJ Williams. Still, by that time the game was already out of hand, and the Hawkeyes had some of their backups out on the field.

Iowa put the finishing touches on the evening with two fourth quarter touchdowns. Once the smoke cleared, Wisconsin’s defense allowed the most points in Big Ten play this season. The Badgers racked up a season-low, 261 yards of total offense. If that wasn’t disappointing enough for Fickell, his players also committed a season-high, eight penalties.

“There’s nothing that stings more than this,” the 51-year old coach said.” There’s going to be a lot of guys, myself included, that have to have a self check, look in the mirror, really kind of evaluate where we are and what we’re willing to do to move forward.”

Locke completed 15 of his 29 passes for a touchdown, and two interceptions. Running back Tawee Walker and Darrion Dupree rushed for a mere 52 yards apiece. Wide receiver Vinny Anthony finished with a team-high, four catches for 61 yards, and Williams had Wisconsin’s only touchdown of the night.

Defensively, linebacker Christian Alliegro tallied a game-high, 16 tackles, including a sack. Fellow linebacker Jake Chaney added 10 stops, and safety Preston Zachman generated eight.

Now Fickell has to pick up the pieces as the Badgers are currently on a two-game losing streak approaching a bye-week. Leaders are going to have to emerge during this time of adversity, plus Fickell’s players and staff need to take accountability. The road to bowl eligibility doesn’t get any easier as Wisconsin navigates through its’ final three games, especially with No. 1 Oregon heading to Camp Randall Stadium in a couple of weeks.

The pain of watching the Iowa players hoist the Heartland Trophy for a third-straight year is going to linger for a while. So it’s going to be up to Fickell to get his team to rebound after this devastating loss, and salvage the rest of the season. He’s currently 12-10 at Wisconsin, including 8-7 in Big Ten play, and is finding out that life after Cincinnati is going to be an uphill battle in the conference.

“We all know what we signed up for, it’s the same thing that every kid in that locker room truly understands, you signed up for the best, and to the expectations you need to play the best, and right now that’s not the case.”