Eastern Michigan head coach Chris Creighton isn’t buying the idea that Colton Joseph has suddenly become easy to defend.
Creighton spent a good chunk of his press conference earlier this week talking about Joseph, making clear he sees a quarterback who can hurt a defense with both his legs and his arm. One game against Western Illinois isn’t enough to shake that view, and Creighton is already putting together a plan to deal with it.
“When you have a quarterback that's a really effective runner.” Creighton said, “it opens up just a whole can of worms.”
That’s the part Wisconsin fans may be having trouble with after the first couple of weeks. Joseph flashed some promise in Week 1 against Notre Dame, though it wasn’t a particularly clean performance.
Then came Week 2 at home against Western Illinois, where he looked even rougher. The throws weren’t sharp, the easy ones weren’t always there, and he passed up chances to tuck it and go.
Luke Fickell brushed off that showing, saying Joseph was rusty on a short week and spent much of the time recovering from the beating he took against Notre Dame. So even with the reaction to Joseph’s 173 passing yards on 12-of-22 passing and 33 rushing yards, neither side is treating the quarterback like a solved problem.
For Creighton, the issue goes beyond one player having a bad day. A run threat at quarterback changes everything for a defense. It stretches the field horizontally, forces defenders to hesitate, and creates a lot of moving parts for the game plan.
“Can spread you out. It can keep you home.
It can mess with your eyes. There's a lot that goes into that, and they've got a really good plan to use him really effectively.”
Creighton continues, “But more and more teams offensively have guys that can, at the very least, keep you honest, but then some are really committed to the quarterback run game, and it's a whole other element.”
Creighton even rattled off Joseph’s 2025 numbers from memory, pointing to his time at Old Dominion, where he ran for 1,000 and threw for over 2,000 yards. That kind of production doesn’t disappear just because one outing looked shaky. To Creighton, this week is still a “tall order.”
There’s also reason to think Joseph should look more like himself with a full week to prepare. Against Western Illinois, he wasn’t really taking punishment, never got sacked, and was only tackled on his own runs. He finished with just four carries, which hardly suggests a quarterback fully unleashed in the run game.
The Badgers are counting on a better version of Joseph this week. If the offense is still stuck in the mud at quarterback when Penn State comes around, the road gets a lot steeper.
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Luke Fickell Just Gave Badgers Fans A Telling Personnel Read
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For a Wisconsin team trying to keep building momentum, those kinds of updates matter because they hint at where the coaching staff feels strongest and where it is still waiting for answers. Fickells comments suggested progress on multiple fronts, but the real interest now is whether Joseph is ready to be part of the mix and how the other personnel pieces continue to settle in once the Badgers get back on the field. [Read more 🡒]
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After two games, the bigger picture around Wisconsin is still blurry, but the quarterback situation has become a little more unsettled than the staff likely expected this early. Colton Joseph has not matched the preseason hope around his spot, completing less than 60 percent of his passes for 390 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception, and Luke Fickell said injury has played a part in holding him back.
The encouraging part for Wisconsin is that other phases have given the team something to lean on. Special teams has stood out with strong punting and field goal work, plus consecutive blocked punts, which has helped steady a group still trying to sort out its offensive identity. Even so, the questions around Josephs health and effectiveness leave the Badgers with a storyline that feels far from settled. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Still Has One Tough Recruiting Battle That Could Define Fickell
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The bigger test is still ahead with five-star edge rusher Jalanie George in the 2028 class, a recruit whose interest gives Wisconsin a chance to keep building inroads in Arizona. The Badgers have some things working in their favor, including his teammates already being committed and improvements around the programs facilities, but the usual hurdles remain, from on-field performance to NIL competition. For Fickell, winning that kind of battle would say as much about the trajectory of the program as any single commitment. [Read more 🡒]