Luke Fickell walked out of Happy Valley with the kind of win that can change a season. Less than a week later, that feeling looks a whole lot shakier.
Wisconsin’s 13-10 upset of No. 13 Penn State had all the makings of a breakthrough for Fickell.
His team survived with a quarterback who handed Penn State 14 points on awful interceptions, and the Badgers still came away on top despite the penalties and mistakes that kept piling up. For a coach looking for proof that his program was headed somewhere, it felt like the moment he had been waiting for.
Then Northwestern smashed Penn State 34-13 on Friday, and the whole thing got a lot messier.
That result changes the way the Wisconsin win looks. Penn State no longer resembles a giant that got tripped up by the Badgers.
It looks like a flawed team that got exposed again, and the Wildcats - better than the usual Northwestern, sure - made the Nittany Lions look far worse than anyone expected. Penn State even played like it was wearing an “Iowa State” costume, looking like the kind of 7-5 Cyclones team Matt Campbell seems to produce every year.
For Fickell, that matters.
He still owns Wisconsin’s first win in Happy Valley since 2003, but the shine is off it now. What had looked like a defining victory is suddenly more of a false summit than a peak. It’s still a win, but not the sort of statement that changes everything.
And that leaves Wisconsin in a pretty straightforward spot: there’s still plenty to prove.
Fickell needs to make sure his team doesn’t get “delusional” about what happened against Penn State. Michigan State is next, and USC and Iowa are still sitting on the schedule. The Badgers can’t afford to treat the Penn State game like the season’s finish line when it may not have been as big a step as it first appeared.
There’s also the reality of how quickly the temperature around Fickell can shift. After the Penn State win and the five-star commitment from Jalanie George, some fans were close to feeling better about where things were headed. Now, with Penn State’s loss to Northwestern making that victory look far less impressive, the seat feels a little warmer again even with Wisconsin sitting at 3-1.
Still, the final judgment may come down to what the Badgers do from here. If Fickell gets Wisconsin to the kind of season people are hoping for - eight or nine wins - the details of how those wins come won’t matter nearly as much. That’s the number that keeps everyone moving in the same direction.
So the Penn State win is still on the books. It just doesn’t carry the same weight anymore. Northwestern turned what looked like a mountain climb into something closer to a speed bump.
In Other News...
Jake Dickert Is Building Buzz Wisconsin Fans Can't Ignore
Wake Forests strong start under Jake Dickert has been hard for Wisconsin fans to miss. At 3-1, with a road win over No. 16 Louisville already on the ledger, Dickert has pushed himself into a wider conversation about coaches who could surface when future Power Four openings come around. The buzz has only grown because he is not a name out of nowhere, either, with his previous success at Washington State giving evaluators another reason to take the current run seriously.
For Wisconsin, the interest is obvious because the coaching market is always watching who can win in a hurry and handle tougher assignments. Analysts and reporters on the Crain & Cone podcast and On3 have already flagged Dickert as one to watch, and Wake Forests manageable remaining schedule means the spotlight could get even brighter if the season keeps unfolding this way. For now, he is simply adding another layer to the list of names Badgers fans are likely to hear again. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Is Turning Homecoming Into A Full Fan Event Saturday
Homecoming Saturday at Camp Randall is shaping up to be more than just another Big Ten game on the Wisconsin calendar. The Badgers have unveiled a new alternate look for their matchup with Michigan State, going with an all-red design that includes an inverted helmet and red pants, a sharp break from the usual home set and one that gives the annual homecoming game a little extra pageantry.
The on-field change comes with a matching crowd push as Wisconsin is also promoting a Red-Out, asking fans to show up in Cardinal Red and help turn the stadium into a coordinated backdrop. It will be the first alternate jersey the Badgers have worn since the opener against Notre Dame, and it follows a similar homecoming alternate from last season, another sign that this date is becoming one the program likes to dress up a little differently. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Commit Kingston Allen Is Fueling Big Dreams At Running Back
Kingston Allens latest burst came in a familiar setting for Notre Dame High School, where the Wisconsin commit piled up 279 yards and six touchdowns on 29 carries in a 66-18 win over Menasha. It was the first game Allen had played entirely since Week 2 of the season, and it served as another reminder of why the Badgers like the look of his running style and production.
The numbers he has stacked this fall are hard to ignore. Allens season totals have climbed to 1,981 yards and 38 touchdowns, helping Notre Dame stay unbeaten at 7-0 while he continues to fuel big expectations around his future in Madison. [Read more 🡒]