Every time it looks like the University of Wisconsin football program might be turning a corner under Luke Fickell, the Badgers find another way to make you question how much progress has actually been made.
Saturday’s 24-21 loss at Maryland was another example.
Wisconsin managed just 201 yards of offense, committed three turnovers, and couldn’t protect a seven-point fourth-quarter lead against a Terrapins team that entered the game 3-6 and committed 11 penalties for 111 yards.
Fickell didn’t attempt to sugarcoat the performance afterward.
“Well, we didn’t do anything well enough today to win, and that’s the hard part,” Fickell said. “You can’t go on the road in this league and think that you’re going to be able to play that way and win a football game... We’re a better football team than that, but we didn’t show it today.”
He’s right. But acknowledging the problems and consistently fixing them are two different things. And four years into his tenure, Wisconsin continues to struggle with the latter.
Here are three takeaways from Fickell’s postgame comments following another disappointing loss.