Wisconsin had Maryland in position to be a manageable road win, then let it slip away in the ugliest way possible.
The Badgers fell to a 3-6 team with an interim head coach and a backup quarterback, and for Luke Fickell, it was the second straight year that Maryland handed Wisconsin a stunning loss. This one landed harder than most. It looked like the kind of defeat that doesn’t just sting for a night - it changes the conversation around a program.
There were warning signs all afternoon in College Park. Wisconsin’s offense had trouble dealing with Maryland’s defensive front, and the Badgers spent much of the game fighting uphill.
Still, they had a chance to escape with an ugly win. Instead, the final stretch unraveled fast: a 39-yard touchdown pass on busted coverage and a bad angle in the secondary, followed by a strip sack that turned a live game into a collapse.
The defining sequence came with the score tied at 21 and Wisconsin trying to put together a two-minute drill. Trey Reddick got to Ryan Hopkins for the strip sack, and that was that.
Wisconsin had just completed a 15-yard pass to Darrion Dupree and was moving toward field-goal range, maybe 25-30 yards away. But the protection broke down completely, Reddick came through untouched, and Hopkins never saw him.
That sequence fit the afternoon. Wisconsin had a shot despite a pile of mistakes, then literally fumbled it away.
Cardell Williams was the story on the other side. Maryland’s backup quarterback completed 21-of-23 passes, threw for 183 yards and a score, and added two rushing touchdowns.
Wisconsin had short notice to prepare for the dual-threat quarterback, but that still doesn’t excuse what happened against a backup. The Badgers managed just one sack without Sebastian Cheeks and never really knocked Williams off rhythm.
Even so, Wisconsin did hold up defensively for stretches. The Terps didn’t consistently break through until they absolutely needed it, and then the whole thing cracked at the worst possible time.
Mason Posa was the one bright spot who kept flashing all game. He finished with 13 tackles, one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss, and there were stretches where he seemed to be carrying the defense by himself.
Cooper Catalano was active too, along with a couple of other Wisconsin defenders. Beyond that, the list of positives was thin.
Ryan Hopkins had a rough day in his second start. He finished with a performance that fell well short of last week’s showing, when he looked much sharper against Rutgers.
This time, his decision-making was less crisp, his throws weren’t as clean, and he never looked as comfortable running the offense. Maryland’s front seven made life miserable for him, but the bottom line is that Wisconsin got a disappointing outing after what had been one of the most encouraging true freshman debuts in program history.
The bigger picture around Fickell is even messier. The loss makes it hard to see how he survives if this keeps going the way it has.
If he lasts through the weekend, Wisconsin now has to beat Minnesota and, before that, Purdue to keep the job conversation from getting even louder. The season has been a pattern of one step forward and two steps back.
Wisconsin now heads back on the road to face Purdue, which is 3-6 and 2-4 in Big Ten play ahead of a primetime game against Iowa in Week 11. The kickoff is set for 11:00 A.M. CT on NBC.
In Other News...
Wisconsin Commit Kingston Allen Just Showed Why Everyone Wants Him
Kingston Allen keeps making the kind of statement that turns a recruiting commitment into a full-blown national storyline. The Notre Dame Academy running back broke multiple Wisconsin high school rushing records against Union Grove High School, including the career rushing yards mark, while scoring three touchdowns in a 21-17 win that sent his team into the championship game.
For Wisconsin, the appeal is obvious and only getting stronger. Allen has stayed committed to the Badgers even as Ohio State and Alabama have come calling, and performances like this are exactly why the pressure around his recruitment is unlikely to fade anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin May Have Lost A Key Defender For Much Longer Than Saturday
The Badgers may be bracing for more than just a short-term absence after senior safety Matt Jung went down with a serious right leg injury in Saturdays game. Jung made a huge play by dislodging the ball at the goal line, but the moment quickly turned grim as he was visibly in pain, needed a cart and a leg brace to leave the field, and left Wisconsins defense with a major concern.
Jung is expected to miss the remainder of the season, a tough blow for a veteran presence in the secondary and for a defense that also saw Mason Posa and Javan Robinson leave with injuries. For Wisconsin, the immediate challenge is not just replacing production, but trying to steady a unit that suddenly looks a lot thinner after one of its most physical games of the year. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsins Offense Just Put Jeff Grimes Back Under The Spotlight
Wisconsins 24-21 loss to Maryland put the focus right back on Jeff Grimes and the direction of the offense. After a stretch in which freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins had been given a little more freedom, the Badgers leaned back into a conservative approach that left the unit looking stuck and predictable, even as some of the backs showed they could have been part of a more balanced plan.
Hopkins never found much room to breathe, finishing with 72 passing yards and three fumbles while operating under steady pressure. The bigger issue for Wisconsin is that the game plan seemed to limit the quarterback rather than help him, and with the offense again underperforming, the questions around Grimes have only grown louder, with Luke Fickells broader offensive direction now part of the conversation too. [Read more 🡒]