Notes: No "Silver Lining" For Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin (3-7, 1-6) put up a good fight against No. 2 Indiana (11-0, 8-0) for one half. But that’s not good enough for head coach Luke Fickell — even coming off the biggest win of his tenure against Washington a week prior. After tying the game 7-7 in the second quarter, the Badgers were outscored by the Hoosiers 24-0 the rest of the way.

Fickell could have used a lot of things as a crutch. UW is ravaged by injuries and lost running back Gideon Ituka, who came into the season as the fourth-string tailback, but is now starting, to a scary injury that required his body to be stabilized and taken off the field on a stretcher. The Badgers were also on the road, facing a legitimate national title contender.

But after the game, Fickell didn’t want to hear any of it. He wanted to see UW finish the job.

“Hopefully sensed an even greater disappointment from me than maybe even in other games,” Fickell told reporters on Monday. “I think that just in the fact that first half, in particular, of seeing things and growth and the things that we wanted to be able to see from us as a football team…and the second half not being that, was really difficult. Obviously, losing is always difficult. But I just think that the way in which we played in the first half and the way that which we played the second half, it just, it was hard. It was disappointing.

“And I want to make sure our guys understood that they knew that too. There is no silver lining in how you played in the first half and didn’t come out in the second half. There’s got to be a killer instinct when you have you put yourself into some situations that you want to be in. Meaning, get the game to the fourth quarter. Got to find ways to be able to get better, close things out, and win games.”

No Word on Ituka

Ituka did fly home with the team following Saturday’s 31-7 loss. Fickell had no update on his status for Saturday’s home contest with Illinois. Since taking over the starting tailback job, Ituka has run for 190 yards.

“Gideon flew home with us, walked on the plane, and had a smile on his face, like he always does,” said Fickell. “From there, what’s moving forward, I don’t really know. Would probably be later in the week.”

Should Ituka not be able to go, Wisconsin may be down to just one tailback — sophomore Darrion Dupree. Dupree opened the 2025 season as the backup to Dilin Jones, who has since been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Also battling injuries, Dupree owns 181 rushing yards in eight games.

“You’ve got to be ready when those chances come, and I think there’s a great example of that in a guy like Darrion,” Fickell stated. “A guy who was playing early in the year, got hurt, was maybe out for six or so weeks, really a week before last, was cleared, on a Friday, to take a couple of snaps. Was gonna get a few more snaps in this past week’s game, and obviously, what happened with Gideon, he had to go in there and kind of the second half and foot the load. Going into this week, he’s a guy who’s going to have a great opportunity, not just a guy who’s bouncing in and out of there, but a greater opportunity to take the snaps as we start the game.

“I think, at the beginning of the year where it was a battle with him and Dilin. And even going into that first game, we’ll see how those guys are rolling to see who continues to get more of the carries. But it’s gonna be a great opportunity for him.”

Change Coming at Kicker?

Senior field goal kicker Nathanal Vakos fell to 5-of-9 on the season and missed a 45-yard attempt that could have given Wisconsin an early 3-0 lead at Indiana. Senior Gavin Lahm, who was competitive with Vakos during fall camp, will redshirt in 2025 and return in 2026. With only two games remaining, Lahm, who has not seen action this fall, could get a look against Illinois while preserving his redshirt.

“That’s something that, this week, could very well be an option,” Fickell explained. “Last week, going into it, just knowing that, by nature, Gavin has a little bit more pop in his leg. And if we were put in a situation where, you know, we needed something, it was outside of Vakos’s reach that he would be an option.

“I would have told you earlier in the year that in those last four games, Gavin would be the kickoff guy. Vakos has done a great job with kickoffs this year. think it’ll be one of those things this week that we’ll be able to create a little bit more competition and see what we need to do as we go into Saturday.”

Fickell Analyzing Strength and Conditioning Program

In all three years of the Fickell era, Wisconsin has been dismantled with key injuries. In most games as of late, the injury report will show double-digit names, not including those who have already been ruled out for the season. One of Fickell’s main priorities in the off-season will be to evaluate the strength and conditioning program under Brady Collins, particularly in-season.

“You can’t just chalk it up to bad luck. Coach Brady and I have talked about that over and over again,” Fickell stated. “I do think when you start to look at things and say, is there something that’s showing up? Is it soft tissue issues? Is it hamstrings? Is it stingers? I mean, things that you think you can train a little bit different.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had knees and shoulders, and I’m not sure there’s not something that you’ve pinpointed. Maybe you walked in the door and had a lot of hip surgeries, and that was something we said, ‘Okay, we’ve got to look at the way we train.’ I do think that when you have an older group of guys, Coach Brady and I talked about this, I think we need to train them a little bit different, almost more like pros. And so if there’s anything we know that’s gonna be different as we move forward, our guys will train in a different way.

“I think the things are gonna be more important to us than maybe getting a mat drill in there in mid-January and February, as it is, what is this guy specifically in particular need? So we can make sure that he’s ready for March, April, May, and then obviously fall.”