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Wisconsin rewards faith in Luke Fickell, fans storm field after upset of No. 24 Washington

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp22 hours ago
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is shown after their game Saturday, September 6, 2025 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat Middle Tennessee 42-10. Michigan is next.
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is shown after their game Saturday, September 6, 2025 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is shown after their game Saturday, September 6, 2025 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat Middle Tennessee 42-10. Michigan is next.

In the same week that Wisconsin announced its commitment to head coach Luke Fickell, the Badgers bullied a top-25 opponent for a win. The program upset Washington 13-10 on a rain-soaked afternoon in Madison, Wisc.

After the game, which saw Wisconsin hang on with a defensive stop in crunch time, fans stormed the field. The crowd at Camp Randall Stadium went wild.

You can check out the field storm below. Given the conditions, fans acquitted themselves quite well.

It was an ugly, grind-it-out kind of game for Wisconsin, though you can hardly blame the team given the conditions on Saturday. It was downright disgusting, raining heavily virtually throughout the contest.

In fact, Wisconsin had only 205 total yards in the game, including just 48 through the air. But that was enough to pull out the narrow 13-10 win. It’s a huge win for Fickell in terms of providing some momentum for the program.

Luke Fickell gets vote of confidence

Luke Fickell is set to return as Wisconsin head coach in 2026, On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed. Athletics director Chris McIntosh also told ESPN’s Pete Thamel the Badgers are making a “significant” financial investment.

Fickell has been at the center of hot seat rumors this year after another rough go in Madison. Wisconsin took a 2-6 record into this week’s matchup against Washington and was in the midst of a six-game losing streak. On3’s Pete Nakos previously reported an idea that UW could bring Fickell back and make an investment in the transfer portal this offseason.

On the whole, Fickell has a 16-19 overall record with the Badgers after Saturday’s win over the Huskies. If the program was to fire him after this season, the school would owe a roughly $25 million buyout. However, McIntosh said the university is ready to further invest in football and keep Fickell for 2026, as well.

“Chancellor (Jennifer) Mnookin and I are aligned on significantly elevating investment in our program to compete at highest level,” McIntosh told ESPN. “We are willing to make an investment in infrastructure and staff. As important, is our ability to retain and recruit players in a revenue share and NIL era.”

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this report.