Backs Against the Wall, Wisconsin Feels Ready For Round Two With Alabama
MADISON, Wis. — It’s not much to go on, and Wisconsin (2-0) knows that. But the final 1.5 quarters in Saturday’s 41-10 win over Middle Tennessee State were some of the best football the Badgers have played in quite a while. After a fourth-down stop preserved a 14-10 lead, UW went on to score 28 unanswered points while out-gaining the Blue Raiders 277-40. A much-needed surge of dominant football, the Badgers are able to feel a little more confident about their fortunes going into a huge week three test at No. 18 Alabama (1-1).
“I think that was the most resilience we’ve shown in a while,” said senior cornerback Ricardo Hallman. “I have more confidence than ever. I always have confidence in our group, but I have more confidence going forward.”
The two teams met last season in Madison. Alabama came into Camp Randall Stadium and thumped Wisconsin 42-10. This came after the Badgers struggled in both previous non-conference contests, barely getting by Western Michigan and South Dakota at home.
Is Wisconsin Ready For Alabama?
Following Saturday’s win over Middle Tennessee, Fickell stated his team wasn’t “ready” for Alabama and the jump in the schedule, which includes ranked opponents Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, and Illinois. During Monday’s press conference, Fickell clarified his comments further.
“It doesn’t matter how I feel. The truth of the matter is, we’ve gotta get ready,” said Fickell. “All I can say, from last week’s performances, in particular in the first half, it just wasn’t as clean as we needed to be for what we wanted. When we take the field, are we playing to the level and executing to the level to which we want to play? We saw some of that in game one. I don’t know that we quite saw that in game two. That’s where the process, the journey, every single week is about getting better.
“We’ll be ready. I know that — mentally and physically. But we’ve gotta go out there and execute the things that we do. It won’t be a lack of preparation. It won’t be a lack of focus. It’s the ability to say, when you get to that moment at 11 o’clock, can you have the calmness, can you have the patience about yourself to go out and execute?
Revisiting the 2024 Matchup
Wisconsin came out with a ton of energy in last season’s meeting. The Badgers even through the first punch, a field goal from kicker Nathanial Vakos, but it came at a price. On the opening drive of the game, starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was lost for the season with a torn ACL. It was a 7-3 game in favor of the Crimson Tide midway through the second quarter until a costly fumble and missed field goal attempt took the wind completely out of UW’s sails. Bama would score the next 28 points before the Badgers would respond late in the third quarter. By then, it was too little too late.
“The final score, you always want to say, doesn’t reflect the whole game, but I think it was a real battle in the first couple of quarters,” senior offensive tackle Riley Mahlman said. “I think we lost it right at the end of the second half. We had the lead early on. We’re driving again and missed a fourth down. It’s things like that, against a team like that, you’ve gotta capitalize on. I don’t want to make excuses for the loss. They played a heckuva game. They shut us down in the second half. But I think this (Wisconsin) team is a little different.”
Big Wins Have Eluded Wisconsin
Under Fickell, Wisconsin is 0-6 against ranked opponents. As a program, the Badgers have defeated an Associated Press Top 25 team since 2021 and haven’t beaten a team that finished the season ranked since 2019.
UW had two golden opportunities at home last season, but couldn’t get that signature under Fickell. The Badgers led Penn State in the third quarter and had a fourth-quarter lead versus Oregon, only to be outscored by a combined margin of 24-0 in the final period. To no surprise, UW’s mantra this season has been “finishing.”
“It shows this football team can compete with anybody,” Mahlman said. “We could compete, but we couldn’t win in the fourth quarter.”
Saturday will be the first time Wisconsin has faced an SEC opponent in a true road game since 1972. It’s also just the seventh regular-season matchup against the SEC in school history. Wins in Tuscaloosa certainly don’t come easy either. Alabama is riding a 13-game home winning streak at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Unranked opponents are also zero for their last 85 at Saban Field, a run that dates back to 2007. In fact, no program in the country has a better winning percentage (.844) at home than the Tide.
“I’m excited to shut everybody up in the stadium,” Peterson joked. “That’s what we’re going down there for. Obviously, it will be cool to play there, but we’re going down there to win and make sure it’s not a good atmosphere at the end of the game.”
Time to Put Up Or Shut Up
All throughout the off-season, Wisconsin has pushed aside the idea that they can’t get it done against what’s arguably the nation’s toughest schedule. The Badgers have also boasted about an improved locker room culture compared to the first two years of the Fickell era. Almost three-touchdown underdogs going into Saturday, UW
“That’s the best time to play football, when nobody expects you to do anything,” said Hallman. “We know what the outside nation thinks of us. We can’t be more excited to prove them wrong.”
