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Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Wisconsin's postgame press conference recap

An overview of what Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, running back Braelon Allen, and linebacker Jordan Turner had to say following the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.

Matt Belz

In this story:

The Wisconsin Badgers took care of business in Phoenix, winning the Guaranteed Rate Bowl over Oklahoma State by seven points. 

Game recaps:

Following the game, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, star running back Braelon Allen, and inside linebacker Jordan Turner met with media members for the postgame press conference. With Allen (offense) and Turner (defense) taking home MVP honors in the game, the trio of representatives for Wisconsin had plenty to say about the game and the future in Madison.

Here is a quick overview of what was said after Wisconsin's bowl game win at Chase Field in Arizona. 

Luke Fickell on the bowl win...

"Obviously I'm really excited, really proud to be part of this. These guys have accepted me the last three and a half weeks, and this was an incredible night. I couldn't be honest with you, these guys probably know, I didn't exactly know what to expect, and I'm walking out of here really impressed with so many things, but most importantly their love, and their care for one another. Their ability to keep fighting, I don't think I saw one negative body language or negative thing said on the sidelines."

Luke Fickell on the importance of pulling Jim Leonhard up on stage during the postgame celebration...

"I think he should have been up there from the get-go, to be honest with you. I mean three and a half weeks, I don't know if that's enough time [for me] to stand up there."

"But I thought it was really important, I thought it was important for him to be recognized, and I wanted to make sure I said, more than anything, I appreciate how and what he's done for me, and how he has handled these last few weeks. I've got the utmost respect, not just for him, but for what this place really means, it showed me a lot."

Luke Fickell on acting as a figurehead in the game and working with Jim Leonhard as well as Bobby Engram...

"I had enough belief that I could control myself and not do too much, but we had sat down actually for a while this morning and just kind of went over everything, and made sure we were all on the same page of how we would go about handling some of the situational stuff. I've always been a guy that communicates, [I] communicate better with the defensive guys in general because I spend a lot of time with those guys. We had a plan and we stuck with the plan. We knew we needed to be aggressive, we knew we were always kind of make sure guys were all on the same page, and there was great communication back and forth all night."

Braelon Allen on the benefit of having a month off leading up to the bowl game...

"I think it was very beneficial. I think the coaches did a great job as we were kind of back into the swing of preparing for this game, kind of giving me a manageable load to where I was getting in good work, but also not putting too much of a beating on my body throughout that preparation. Today I felt amazing, I was just excited to be able to play kind of feeling 100% again, it was just fun to play."

Jordan Turner on the play of the defense without Nick Herbig and Keeanu Benton...

"Everybody understands that it's a next man up mentality at Wisconsin. We lost NuNu [Keeanu Benton], we lost Nick [Herbig], but we still got to get the job done, we got to do our best on defense. How we did it? We played together, we communicated, and we executed."

Braelon Allen on the importance of winning the bowl game...

"That was huge. It was definitely exactly what we wanted. I'm not really an emotional person but just thinking back on everything that we went through, dating back to the spring with GB [Gary Brown], and kind of just the up and downs throughout the season, like I said, I'm not very emotional, but when it comes to this team and my brothers it's kind of hard to control. They've been there for me, and we've been there for each other every step of the way. I can't thank them enough."

Braelon Allen on his excitement level for next season...

"Incredibly excited. Just kind of getting to have conversations with Coach Fickell has gotten me very excited. The team [and] the guys we have coming back, obviously a bunch of playmakers who have experience, and I think we're going to be very dangerous."

Luke Fickell on the play of Chase Wolf in the bowl game...

"I thought Chase did a phenomenal job tonight. He controlled what he could control, he took shots when he needed to take shots, and I don't think I ever saw him bat an eye, even after the interception. His ability to come back, that's a credit to him, but also a credit to these guys, because I told you there was no bad body language, nothing negative no matter what I saw tonight."

Luke Fickell on why he thinks Wisconsin has won eight of their last nine bowl trips...

"Bowl games are 90% who wants to be there. Everybody wants to be there when the game kicks off, but meaning who wants to prepare to be there. I really do believe that. Like I said, I'm not sure I exactly knew what to expect completely tonight, but I know what I have seen over the last three and a half weeks, that they wanted to be here, they wanted to prepare."

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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