Column: As Wisconsin hosts Iowa, it’s now or never for Luke Fickell’s ‘competitive spirit’
If there was ever a time for the Wisconsin Badgers' often-referenced yet seldom seen "competitive spirit" to show up on the field, it's vs. Iowa.
During his weekly media availability, Luke Fickell looked and sounded like a man operating with extreme urgency — and for good reason. Five games in, Wisconsin football is spiraling, and Saturday’s matchup with Iowa could be a defining moment of his tenure.
The Badgers sit at a humbling 2-3, losers of three straight, including two embarrassing showings against Alabama and Maryland.
The road only gets more treacherous from here, as Ohio State and Oregon, arguably the most dangerous-looking teams in the sport at the moment, lurk around the corner to be played in consecutive weeks.
Before Wisconsin hosts the mighty Buckeyes, however, it has a home date with Iowa on Saturday. And despite the two behemoth opponents on deck and in the hole, the magnitude of this matchup with Iowa cannot be overstated.
“I think everybody understands what’s at stake for us and what this game means,” Fickell said.
The stakes on Saturday night in Madison are indeed enormous and extensive: Fickell is 0-2 against Iowa; he hasn’t won a Heartland Trophy game. Wisconsin is teetering on the verge of four straight losses, and the Hawkeyes are one of the more winnable games remaining on the schedule. It’s homecoming. Oh, and the Badgers got humiliated last season in Iowa City, losing 42-10 in a claw-your-eyes-out showing.
That last point is a reminder nobody in the Wisconsin Badgers facility needs.
“There’s no doubt that what happened last year is fresh in the minds of everybody on this team and in this program,” Fickell said.
In case, as human beings tend to do with trauma, you’ve buried and repressed your recollection of that game, let me refresh your memory: Wisconsin surrendered a staggering 329 rushing yards; its defensive front, under Mike Tressel, was dashed to bits all night. It turned the ball over twice, went just 2-for-11 on third down, committed eight penalties, and only gained 261 total yards when all was said and done.
That game became the measuring stick for Fickell’s offseason rebuild — a physical, lopsided reminder of what Wisconsin used to be known for, and what it no longer is.