Fresh off their 17-7 loss to the No. 12 UCLA Bruins over the weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers are looking to bounce back against the No. 16 USC Trojans on Saturday, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. on NBC at Camp Randall Stadium.
Ahead of the week, head coach Luke Fickell spoke to reporters in his weekly press conference, looking back at the loss and previewing the USC matchup.
Here’s everything Fickell said ahead of Wisconsin’s game against USC on Saturday.
Opening Statement
I don’t want to go backwards a whole lot. Obviously, you’ll probably want a little bit of the recap, but to be honest with you, you can’t go on the road and, in my opinion, play the way we did, meaning undisciplined, not complementary football, and think you’re going to beat a top 10 or 12 team in the country. And so as you kind of break it down, as we kind of look back at as we came back, and again, moving forward, obviously we take a good hard look at ourselves and just say, okay, now where do we need to get a hell of a lot better? And there were some glaring things in particular penalties-wise that hurt us defensively, obviously on the third down stuff.
And then, and offensively, just some consistency in the rhythm, the things we got to be able to do. But there also is some really good as well. I thought we did play really, really hard. To be honest with you, start of the fourth quarter, it’s 10-7. We have not played very good. We got them, 1st and 20 on their own 4 or 5-yard line. And I told our guys, if you asked me if I would take that Friday before the game or something, I’d be like, yeah, it’s a great position to be in, right? I mean, you want to be a team that can win the game in the 4th quarter. You want to be a team that wears some people down and plays their best in the 4th quarter. And we were in that position to be able to do it, and we didn’t get it done. And so we got to move forward.
There’s some things, you know, obviously we put behind us but we’ve reviewed and looked at, but now it’s on to SC because it doesn’t get any easier in this league. And I think that’s probably the other message that I told our guys is like we talk about no delusion or arrogance. That comes with winning and that comes with tough losses too. And so our ability to move on, be pros about it, and find a way to learn, to grow, to learn, to apply, and to grow is going to be what’s really important for us each and every week.
On Stylz Blackmon, how he’s earned the trust to be a starter…
I think it starts with whatever we’ve asked him to do, he’s done. He didn’t start game 1, he was rolling. And then after game 1, you’re like, wow. I mean, he didn’t bat an eye at the situation and how he had to play against a top-tier team in a big venue. And then kind of the same thing on in the bye week, we shifted him over and said, hey, he had done a little bit of snapping in the spring and maybe even in fall camp. but nothing on a consistent basis.
And so we moved him over there, and even in the bye week, he didn’t bat an eye at it and handled it really well. And so he’s just a guy that’s been incredibly versatile, um, and everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s been able to do.
On the edge rusher spot opposite of Sebastian Cheeks…
Yeah, I don’t know the exact numbers of how many guys played opposite of Cheeks. Nick Clayton is, Tyreese [Fearbry], and he’s done a really good job, but also Justus Boone has played over there and Mike Garner has played over there. And so last week in the game, we had shifted and moved some of those guys around based on whether we had base in the game or nickel in the game. And so I think it was a greater emphasis in stopping the run of mixing it up some more with Justus Boone and Mike Gardner over the boundary to give Tyreese some break as well.
But they’ve all in all have done a good job. I think we do need to find a way to get some more production and some more havoc out of the boundary, of turning those guys loose a little bit more. But for us, it’s been good to see that. I think Mike Gardner played well in game 1, then has been kind of hobbled a little bit. So, finally last week, I think he was back to close to his self. And Justus Boone has been a guy that, yeah, we’re still getting to know. I know it’s Week 6 of the season or whatever, and you’ve been here since January, but he’s a guy that, to me has gotten better, and I think we’ll see more and more out of him.
On Colton Joseph’s accuracy concerns even in wins…
Well, some of the things that I think that we didn’t have an opportunity to do, and maybe some of the easier get in rhythm passes we probably didn’t do. And that, I think that hurt him in the long run. I don’t know that we envisioned carrying it as many times as he did. A lot of those are reads, and correct read or wrong read, call your own number or not, I think all those things kind of add up. And so that’s been a focus for us of making sure that, like, look, we’re not pigeonholing you into only doing certain things and not giving you the opportunity to get into a rhythm and be able to complete more passes.
But I think that’s where we’ve got to continue to, but it’s a combination too. I mean, if there’s one thing that I’m sure everybody took from the game— there’s a lot of things you took from last week’s game— but I got to give their wide receivers a lot of credit. I mean, they made some very difficult, very contested catches that I think in, in vice versa, we’ve got to find ways to come down with some things. JD (Jaylon Domingeaux) came down with a really big contested catch that, maybe was not the perfect ball, but your job as a wide receiver is to make your quarterback look good. So I think there’s a combination of those things there. It’s a big part we got to grow.
On Jaylon Domingeaux’s return, role going forward…
I think it was good to have him back. I think that we got to get him more involved. Maybe only 18, 20 snaps in the game. That’s got to be probably somebody that we get many more too, whether there’s many more targets. I think that’s a part of it too. There’s a connection. I don’t know that anybody expected— like we did. I mean, I know he expected to be back playing by this time, but I think there’s a lot of people that said he would be 9, 10 weeks.
So I think getting him back in the mix is really important for us. I think getting him maybe even on some special teams, maybe even into the return game. He’s a guy that definitely has a competitive fire and a competitive spirit that that we want to give more opportunities to.
On challenge Jayden Maiava presents…
Oh, I mean, they have thrown the ball exceptionally well, and I don’t know that would surprise you. I think that they’ve got a hell of a combination. He does a great job. I think that they’re unique in their run game. It’s not like you can fall asleep on the run game. That’s where they, I think, get so many people have to be able to handle a lot of the counter plays that they have and run really, really well.
But his connection with the wideouts and his ability to move in the pocket, his ability to even create— not maybe run as much when he creates, but always keep his eyes down the field— he’s got a lot of trust in the wideouts, and for, for a good reason. So I think there’s a great combination of him with his ability to throw the football, but also with the combination of his ability to extend plays and with a really talented receiver group.
On potential issues in secondary after UCLA game…
Yeah, I mean, I think that, obviously there always is. We’ve got to be able to have a little bit more variety in some of the things. Give them a lot of credit. They made some some plays and made some scheme things that were pretty good on man coverage stuff. And so, nonetheless, we got to get better at it.
We’ve got to be able to be aware of the things that people are attacking us with, but we got to continue to challenge ourselves. You can’t make excuses for why people threw the ball as well as they did last week. You just got to find ways to continue to get better. And so it’ll be a big emphasis for us this week, and we got to get back at it.
On how WRs can improve winning vs. man coverage…
I think it’s, it’s getting comfortable recognizing man. It’s getting comfortable. It’s not just the work that you do in winter or in fall camp of saying, hey, how do we beat man coverage? Well, you know, I think it’s recognizing. I think it’s, even scheme-wise, having some things that give them greater opportunities to be able to get off and make people have to pay like UCLA did against us a little bit in some ways.
But I think there’s a combination. It doesn’t just fall on the plates of wideouts, doesn’t just fall on the plate of the quarterback, but it also falls on the plate of, hey, schematically, we got to do a better job in some of the things that we’re doing to give our guys a better chance. I mean, there were some opportunities twofold that we had a chance to take a shot on man coverage, and we get immediate pressure and end up getting sacked. But there were some opportunities that we felt like we could try to take advantage of it, but it didn’t work.
On if there’s a number/metric to feel good about accuracy in passing game for Joseph…
No, I don’t want to say things can be misleading. Stats don’t always tell all the story, right? I mean, there’s guys that have shovel passes. There’s guys that have flips. I mean, like, that those things add up. So to say, hey, we’ve got to be 65 percent, I mean, yeah, that’s the goal that you shoot for, but you also don’t want to pitch on yourself. Like, look, if you want to be 65 percent, then you’re probably not going to take some of those shots down the field if they’re 50-50 balls.
But we do have to continue to do the things that Colton does well. There’s a greater expectation for the way that which we have to be able to throw the football, the accuracy we have to have. But it’s all going to come with work, and I think that’s where we just gotta get a hell of a lot better at the things that we’re doing. And that has a lot to do with some of the accuracy, has a lot to do with some of the efficiency in the pass game.
On how to strike balance with read options, giving RBs more looks…
We do [have to get the backs more involved]. We do. I mean, and sometimes it’s hard when you’re playing a multiple of guys. And so to have somebody get into a rhythm is one of those things. If things are working well— like, nobody said that about USC, we haven’t brought that up about them, but they play a couple different backs, maybe they don’t get as many carries because they’re throwing the football— if you’re scoring, if the ball’s moving, if you’re possessing the ball, I think there’s a lot of things you maybe don’t look as glaring to you.
But nonetheless, it’s hard. And you tell a wideout the same thing— well, I only got 2 targets. Well, yeah, it’s hard maybe to get into a rhythm. It’s hard to maybe have a chance to make some plays if you don’t get the ball in your hand. For us this past week, we were limited a little bit. I mean, obviously they held the ball. They possessed the ball a hell of a lot more. When they had 24 snaps in the first half, I think we ended up with 49 or 50 snaps as a total. So that goes back to complementary football of giving us greater opportunities to have the ball to make sure we can move it around a little bit better.
On why PJ Wilkins got start rather than Ryan Cory at center…
I think it just, it kind of progressed from there. Not pinpointing or picking on one thing. Obviously guys can take a glaring miss or a hold or give up a sack and say that we judge somebody all on one or two plays. That’s not the case. I mean, we evaluate every single thing that we do. And it’s been a little bit difficult with the combination when guys get dinged up, when guys get hurt. In particular, [Austin] Kawecki and moving Stylz back in there.
Through all the things we’ve done, we just felt like that was the best 5. And our ability to be able to rotate some guys in there, as you saw last week, I think they played 9 different linemen. I’m not saying that’s where you want to be able to go, but I think that we have to find ways to make sure we’re continuing to develop the guys for the opportunities they get, but also keeping guys on their toes to say, ‘Look, we got to be competitive in all things we’re doing,‘ and that starts on Tuesdays with practice. We’ve got to find a way to make sure we got up the best five up front in particular every week.
On Colton’s unsportsmanlike penalty, whether Fickell got an explanation, and what the line is…
We’re getting into a touchy subject. Again, we got to be smart. I mean, there’s a discipline thing. Yes, something about the nose wipe. I didn’t see it, to be honest. I had to have them pull it from the TV copy because it’s not on our copies of things. Those are things we got to be better about. I mean, we got a a taunting call that I mean, let’s just be honest, like, on [Mason] Posa’s after an interception that I don’t know that I would say is a problem in a junior high game, to be honest with you.
There’s a lot more leeway. I mean, guys, you’ve seen guys punt balls, and we can spike the ball now, I guess. We see celebrations, we see choreographed dances. They don’t want to take things away from these guys. I mean, like, the things we see in end zone celebrations, but then we have a guy that maybe hollers and then goes right back to the play, and we get 15-yard penalty. Check that one, you know. Does she throw the flag, then she picks it up, then she flips it again? Haven’t got an explanation on that. To a blindside block that says it’s not a blindside block now.
So yeah, I think, again, you got to find a balance there. We got to make sure we do the best job that we can to teach our guys and understanding what’s discipline and what’s aggressive. Malachi’s, so to speak, blindside block is aggressive. It’s not a penalty. I can’t tell him to not do it. So there’s a way to be aggressive and make sure that we’re not trying to make our guys passive. There’s a way to say, hey, 7 seconds after you’re out of bounds to really need to make a signal whether it’s legal or not is is not a good choice. And so we got to do a hell of a lot better job there. But don’t let that mask the other, to me, issues or situations that we have to do a hell of a lot better job of. And I think as a group, as a whole, our league has to do a better job of as well. As political as I can be.
On Coleman’s blindside block, what refs said…
Well, there is a review process, and I think I was— you’re only allowed to turn in 10 plays. I called and said I can’t limit it to 10. I tried to limit it to 17, but nonetheless, they’ve come back and said no, that is not pretty wide open. It is not a blindside block. It’s a big hit. But I mean, it’s one of those ones where you would tell your guys, this is square guy up, this is what you got to be able to do. And if you actually see it, he doesn’t dive on top of him, which some people can’t fall on quarterbacks, but he actually goes and gets another block. And it’s actually a hell of a play on his part.
And that’s where there’s some discrepancy. And I know there’s some judgments and things like that that happen, but no, I was told that it was a perfectly legal block. Not the one that they hit on Fearbry on the crackback on the on the toss play by the tight end. But that’s beside the point. I’m not opening the can over here.
On if refs provide explanations, how in depth they go…
Very diplomatic kind of. You can review, you can give them plays to review. And, to be honest with you guys, like, look, I don’t want to be a whiner and a complainer. Coach [Greg] Gillum is the guy that kind of puts it together and sends it in for us. And I say, look, do not send something until I see it. Like, only the plays I ever want to send in are things that we can coach off of. Like, is this a clip? Is this, don’t call it— is this PI? No. It’s more so, hey, is this a high-low or things like that? Like, is this a blindside block? Because I gotta know if I’m not coaching it right.
I called last week about the landing on the quarterback, just said give me your explanation so we can coach our guys better. But there is a process to them at least giving you some reviews. And normally I would say maybe send in 3 or 4 at the tops, if we even send in any. And there were maybe 17 to 19, and that’s not [including] Colton on a whatever, you know, that’s not even post on a celebration like that. No, those are different things.
So, all in all, again, it’s something for us to learn from. Can’t dwell on the past. It doesn’t change the outcome of, of the game of any sorts. There’s one thing that I’ll end with. My dad always told me, even at a young age, is don’t ever leave it in the hands of the officials. And so whether he was maybe referring to wrestling at the time because it was individual. But the idea that, like, look, we got to play better, we got to do things a hell of a lot better. I think so does everybody else.
