Everything Wisconsin Coach Luke Fickell Said After 42-10 Loss to No. 4 Alabama

Badgers head coach Luke Fickell during his postgame press conference after his team's home loss to the Crimson Tide.

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is shown during the fourth quarter of their game against South Dakota Saturday, September 7 , 2024 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Wisconsin football team lost its first game of the 2024 season against a Power Four opponent on Saturday. The Badgers (2-1) fell 42-10 to No. 4 Alabama (3-0) at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Head coach Luke Fickell delivered postgame remarks following the 32-point home loss.

Opening Statement:

"I'll give you guys the same message I just gave them. If you haven't had your ass whooped before, you just did. And it hurts, and it's not easy, but in this game that's gonna happen. It's a part of the game. It stinks. It doesn't mean you didn't work hard, didn't mean you didn't prepare. It means you didn't get the job done, and whether it's a one-point loss or a 34-point loss, it's a good, old-fashioned ass whooping at home, which hurts. They beat us in every phase of the game today. Give them credit, they're a really, really good football team. We knew coming in here that we were going to have to play and execute really, really well, and we did not do that today, and I mean that in all three phases. I take blame myself. Right there at the end of the [first] half, to be honest with you, probably playing right about the way that you want to be able to play and probably in the situation that you really want to be in with about 35, 40 seconds to go in the half. Those last 40 seconds, unfortunately, completely turned a lot of things around. And then, come out [in] the second half, four, five, six plays, whatever it was. Obviously, from there, we kind of crumbled and didn't execute in any phase. Really, really difficult. That's a group in there, not saying what their expectations are, they all understand they have expectations, and they work their butts off to go out and play this game, these 12 guaranteed opportunities to us, this one is one that didn't go the way we envisioned and has a lot to do with the way that we played. With a team like that, knowing that, top five football team, class of college football in the last 20 years, you're gonna have to earn it, and we didn't earn it today."

On the leg injury to starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke:

"He wasn't able to come back. We'll get more clarity here soon, get an MRI and things like that. I don't think it looks real good for us or for him. That's really, really difficult because I think that he was really well prepared, and I think that he had grown in those first few weeks and was really sharp to start that game."

On what he would've changed about the ending to the first half, where the team came away without scoring after just missing a touchdown pass:

"I would've scored a touchdown. Made a field goal. A lot of things, you know, hindsight's 20-20. You got a shot to score a touchdown, and to beat an Alabama team you're gonna have to make those plays. There's some part of me that says I wish we would've ran the football. But that's obviously second-guessing yourself after the situation. There's some things that you could've taken time off the clock. All those things being said, you're not gonna beat an Alabama football team, you're not gonna beat a top five football team if you don't take those shots. So, I take responsibility for not getting that thing done, and especially there at half, but you're not gonna win kicking field goals. You're not gonna win playing real conservative. You were in the position there right before half. The first two weeks, we learned a lot from, we executed down the stretch, ended the half with the ball, and maybe not had the momentum because we wanted more, but put ourself in a position to go into halftime with a better shot."

On the performance of backup quarterback Braedyn Locke:

"It's hard to say. He did some really good things, I think, early on, obviously it was a little bit tough. His first three or four [drives] maybe weren't real good. We've gotta protect the football better. I think we obviously turned it over a couple times today, we got zero turnovers again defensively. Give them [Alabama] credit for that. There's also two other times the ball's on the ground and you're not gonna win big football games, you're not gonna beat really, really good football teams when you do those things. So, again, we've got the utmost confidence in Braedyn. It had been a battle all through fall camp and even in spring football. Braedyn can execute this offense and do some things even different than Tyler can, but it wasn't gonna be enough today."

On how much he considered going for it on 4th & 3 late in the first half:

"Well, that's the situation there, that's why in some ways maybe you kick yourself because get two or three yards, or get a yard on that and maybe you would run that thing down there again and take another shot at it, but with the time, the key was to end the half with the ball. And, if you can do that, you put yourself at least in a position where you don't get the ball in the second half, knowing you've gotta come out and you're gonna have to play four quarters. So, either way, there were some other situations. We missed the fourth down the first drive I think, that again, you're gonna have to keep taking those shots in order to beat a team like that. You're gonna have to execute a hell of a lot more than we did."

On staff changes and what he feels like the team does well:

"Well, we've still gotta figure that out. It's still early, and I think we can run the football. I think we can do some things up front offensive line wise that gives us a chance, and I think that you saw that in the first half. I didn't say that we're blowing people off the ball. That's this big and good-looking defensive line, and the guys that they roll through there that you're gonna see all year, I think those guys can do that. That's where we've gotta hang our hat on. I think we're gonna be a little bit different if Braedyn's the quarterback, meaning there's some situations, there's some things that he does better. We'll have to lean on those guys up front maybe even a little bit more. But all those things kind of coming together, we knew this was gonna be a battle, and I don't mean this game, I meant this season. We can't jump to conclusions. I know that's your guys' [media] job. But the number one thing in that locker room I told these guys is, 'We've went through this. The leadership group talked about these things and what are you gonna do when you're 2-0? What are you gonna do if you're 4-0? What are you gonna do if you're 2-1? How are you gonna handle these things? How are you gonna handle what everybody wants to say about you?' It's a part of it. We understand that. We know we've got a hell of a long way to go to figure out what we are and what we can hang our hat on, but I have faith and trust in those guys in that locker room and that's what you've gotta continue to ride with."

On Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and what makes him dangerous:

"It's a combination. They are willing to run him maybe a little bit more than I would've expected. That's something that is a great equalizer for him. He throws a great deep ball and they've got some guys that can go up and get it. That hurt us on 3rd & 8 in the first quarter when those ones that are uncontested that you dont love. We've gotta do a better job at least making him earn those things, but he's a combination that makes it very difficult, and if he can connect down the field, that's something that's really tough to handle. I know maybe he didn't do a great job of doing that last week, but that's a little bit different team. They've got some guys back up front on the offensive line that make them even a little bit different."

On loss of momentum in the game following Van Dyke's injury:

"It's not defeating at that moment, I mean, you go through those scenarios. You do those things. You feel bad for the kid. We've all been through it, unfortunately. A guy that's done what he's done, come a long way, coming here for one year, and putting in all that he put in. We unfortunately, we've seen a little bit of it last year with a guy that had dedicated so much to it and then getting hurt. Unfortunately, it's a part of the game. It is hard. It's hard on me, not because just the team, but because of the kid. Unfortunately, it's a part of the game. We'll find out, I don't know, I can't say exactly what has happened just yet to him. But it is a gut punch. But that's when you find out what the rest of the crew's made of, and we're gonna find out."

On what Braedyn Locke can elevate in the offense:

"I think we can play, even, at a faster tempo if we want to. He knows the offense like the back of his hand. He can make some adjustments and checks out there that I think that even before we could make a signal for. He is a student of the game. Just think that there are some other things that are a little bit different. He made some pretty darn good little pull reads and throws in some tight windows in some traffic. He's gotta hit the, we had a couple shots at some of the deep balls that give us an opportunity to be that spark that we needed. But we're gonna have to find out if he's the guy that, as we move forward, we're gonna have to be smart, but we're gonna have to figure out the things that we gotta be able to adjust and adapt to."

On how he saw his team matching up with Alabama:

"That offensive line's better than, not that I thought, but it's a physical group that will flat get after you. And I was impressed just from the side of seeing that. Again, you've gotta play so sound. You've gotta play well down the field with the talent that they have, the size of the wideouts, and the speed. But you've gotta be able to contain the quarterback too. There were some things that we did pretty well, making them earn things in the first half, I think that was the whole philosophy, is to make them earn things in the first half. We've gotta leverage the football and we've gotta swarm to the ball, and when you do that, you have a chance to force guys back inside, try to create some turnovers, and that's not what we did. When they had their bigger plays, they were shots down the field, and it was even when Milroe broke the edge. Later in the second half, we fell out of character to ourselves, and that's disheartening, but those kinds of things are, I think, a lot more correctable."

On what positives can be taken away from a game like this:

"Well, I'll tell you in about three days. Cause you really see who really cares. And I don't mean that guys don't care, but I mean like who doesn't listen to the noise. Who doesn't hear all the things that people want to tell them that they can't do? Then I'll tell you the positives. An ass whooping's an ass whooping, but if you can get back up and move forward, then you can grow from it. But if you can't, it demoralizes you, and it keeps you down, and it puts you back and it makes you lose confidene. Then it's not, there's nothing positive about it. So, obviously, there's some guys that did some things and made some plays. We'll figure that out, but I think it's more about the whole, and finding out what kind of heart, what kind of passion we have for this and what kind of leadership do we have."

On cutting down on fumbles and what might be causing them:

"I don't know. We went live much more this year. We went live in spring ball. We went live every third day in camp. You would think that you'd be better at taking care of the football with all the live action you've had, and unfortunately, we're not. It's cost us. It's put us in really tough situations in the first couple games. I think it cost us big-time today. You can't give a team like that the ball twice inside your own 25, 30-yard line, with the momentum and the spark. People think it's just about big plays, right? All the analytics will tell you that turnovers don't matter as much as big plays do. And I'll tell you that's not the case because of the energy and the momentum that is created. And they did a great job of that. If we don't correct that and we don't find a way to take care of the football, we'll struggle.

On whether freshman quarterback Mabrey Mettauer can help the team this season?

"He's gonna have to be ready. He's gonna have to be ready because, as we've all talked about in college football, and in all football, the quarterback position is so unique. In college football right now, it's probably the most difficult to maintain that locker room or maintain that quarterback room, and you've gotta have guys ready. Unfortunately, we could have to have a true freshman that's gotta be ready to roll. Even the first series or second series Braedyn was in there, I see him kind of working his hand after he takes a shot and fumbles the football, and he's one play away. He's a lot closer today than he was in the past. He's gonna have to grow up fast."

On things he still thinks his team has to fix:

"Well, we've gotta fix the turnovers, we just said that, and I think the ability to take care of the football. We knew we wanted to take some shots and I think we strategically had some shots, we just didn't hit them. And that's the difference in the ball game. They have two or three shots down the field that maybe are more open than ours, and they make really good plays and catch and throws. I'm not saying that's the only difference in the ball game. And then defensively, we've gotta find a way to create some turnovers. We've gotta find a way to create more havoc. I thought in the first half, we did a solid job of doing and executing the game plan of making sure we leveraged the football and swarm, until right there at the very end, where he breaks loose a little bit and scores the touchdown and then we give up the big plays. There are things to build from, but it's gonna be more about what the heart and soul is. Where's the head and the mind? Because it's a long season and a long game, and we're gonna have to get back up and get back to swinging."

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