After an ugly 38-14 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide on the road in Week 3, the Wisconsin Badgers needed to bounce back in a major way against the Maryland Terrapins. They did exactly the opposite, getting blown out in a 27-10 defeat in Week 4 in a must-win game.
The pressure was on for the Badgers heading into the week. Given how tough the remainder of their schedule was and that they had a bye week coming in Week 5, the players understood that Maryland was a must-win game.
But, issues from the past plagued Wisconsin again. They had special teams problems, dealt with sacks and uneven quarterback play, and gave up explosive plays defensively.
Wisconsin started well with a 45-yard pass from Billy Edwards to Trech Kekahuna on the opening possession. However, they didn’t get any points off the drive, and things went downhill from there. Edwards seemed to re-aggravate his injury on the team’s second drive, and sophomore Danny O’Neil took over from there.
It was a rough day for O’Neil, who had 120 passing yards and an interception while averaging under six yards per attempt. The run game struggled again with 1.5 yards per carry, getting minimal push up front. Even when taking out the sacks, Wisconsin had only 3.1 yards per carry.
Defensively, Wisconsin did well initially, but was put in some tough positions with bad field position. They were able to limit explosives early on, but Maryland adjusted to their man-heavy defense and was able to get open receivers for big plays later on.
Saturday was arguably the worst loss of Fickell’s career at Wisconsin, and perhaps the worst since the Badgers had since their 2022 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini that resulted in head coach Paul Chryst’s firing the day after.
After the game, Fickell spoke with reporters, bluntly pointing out how poorly the team played and noting the mountain to climb after a loss like Saturday’s.
Listen to Fickell’s entire introductory statement after the Badgers’ 27-10 loss to Maryland.
Stay tuned for all the Badgers postgame coverage coming soon!
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