Wisconsin football report card from 38-14 loss to No. 19 Alabama
Handing out grades for the Wisconsin Badgers offense, defense, and special teams from the 38-14 road loss to No. 19 Alabama in Week 3.
Perfection doesn’t exist in football. Still, to have a real shot at beating No. 19 Alabama on the road, Wisconsin football needed something close to it: execution, minimal penalties, a functional run game behind a patched-together line, pressure on the quarterback, and no explosives allowed.
Wisconsin got the opposite. Alabama scored the first four touchdowns and cruised to a 38–14 win, giving fans another reminder of how far the Badgers are from contention in Year 3 under Luke Fickell.
Fickell is now 0–7 against ranked opponents at Wisconsin and 3-12 against college football teams with winning records. Publicly, Fickell chose during his postgame press conference to focus on optimism over frustration.
"That's not easy to swallow, and the truth of the matter is, I told those guys, that was a much better team than we are right now," Fickell said. "They played complementary football, and we did not... It's tough to swallow, but I promised those guys from the get-go, I said, ‘There’s one thing that I’m going to be committed to, it’s going to be committed to being positive. And it’s very easy to stand up here and rant and rave and point a finger at a lot of things. We all know that we have to get better. We have to get better as coaches and we have to get better as players, both offensively and defensively. There’s not a whole lot of bright spots.
"We know this was a measuring stick. We're not measuring up to where we want to be or expect to be," Fickell continued. "There's a long way to go, and the key is where do we go moving forward and continuing to find ways to get better and keep pushing, because the season starts now."
With that as the backdrop, let’s hand out some grades.
Offense: D-
Context first: Alabama entered the game as a 20.5-point favorite. Even so, the Wisconsin Badgers gave itself no chance by gifting the Crimson Tide short fields and failing to protect its young backup quarterback.
The offensive line carousel spun again. Jake Renfro returned, left early, and then hobbled his way through the second half. Kerry Kodanko entered, allowed a sack on his lone snap, then went down and couldn’t play, per Fickell. That forced third-stringer Ryan Cory into action, and at one point, Wisconsin had three redshirt freshmen: Cory, Colin Cubberly, and Emerson Mandell, holding down the line against Alabama’s front.
The numbers were as ugly as the eye test. Wisconsin managed just 209 total yards and scored only one offensive touchdown, which didn’t come until 5:29 remained in regulation. They finished with 92 rushing yards on 34 attempts, a 2.7 yards-per-carry average, and Danny O’Neil completed 11-of-17 pass attempts for 117 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, both picked off by Alabama safety Bray Hubbard.
Darrion Dupree led the team in rushing with just 26 yards on seven carries. That’s the kind of stat line that tells you there weren’t many positives. The advanced data backs it up. According to Game on Paper, Wisconsin averaged minus-0.08 EPA per play, ranking in the 32nd percentile nationally in Week 3. They finished at 4.25 yards per play (11th percentile), with a minus-0.26 EPA per dropback (21st percentile).
Across nine total drives, the Badgers averaged just 5.67 plays and 24.1 yards per possession. They weren't even treading water against Alabama.
The struggles weren’t just about O’Neil. The reality is Wisconsin’s offensive line was a revolving door, and the youth up front showed against Alabama’s defense. Fickell acknowledged that challenge.
"There's a lot of shuffling parts and we knew that was going to be the case," Fickell said. "We knew that if we were playing three redshirt freshmen on the offensive line, things were going to be probably a little bit tougher at times. There are a lot of other things that stood out more than exactly how the younger guys played up front. But it's a process. We've got to get the right combination of those guys together, keep them healthy in some ways, and find a way to run the ball better."
There were very few sparks: O’Neil’s 41-yard strike to Jayden Ballard late in the fourth quarter, plus a couple of well-schemed play calls from Jeff Grimes, such as a 19-yard screen to tight end Lance Mason and a 12-yard wheel route to Dupree, freed up by receivers clearing out the middle of the field. But that’s window dressing on a game that was long decided.
This system is supposed to be built on physicality and downhill running. Right now, it’s neither. Through three games, Wisconsin is averaging 3.8 yards per carry, down from 4.4 last year. That’s not just a personnel issue, it’s an identity problem, and the offensive line is the culprit. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with the way Grimes is calling the game. I think he’s doing everything he can, but the group just isn’t disciplined or executing well enough for it to matter. For me, that adds up to a D- on offense.
Defense: D-
After a fourth-down stop to open the game, the dam burst. Alabama scored touchdowns on five straight drives, turning what could have been a spark into a flood. Quarterback Ty Simpson, making just his third career start, looked like a grizzled veteran against Wisconsin’s secondary.
He completed 24 of 29 passes for 382 yards and four touchdowns, torching the Badgers at a 13.2 yards per attempt clip. Ryan Williams was his top weapon, hauling in five passes for 165 yards and two scores, both of which went for at least 40 yards. Germie Bernard chipped in two more touchdowns, one rushing, one receiving, as Alabama’s offense under Ryan Grubb rolled up 454 total yards and averaged 8.7 per play.
The backbreaker came right before half. Alabama marched 98 yards in the final two minutes and capped it with a 13-yard touchdown pass with just 45 seconds left, extending their lead to 21–0. That was the moment Wisconsin had to hold its own, and instead, it was the knockout punch.
Statistically, the gap was glaring. Alabama averaged 9.02 yards per play (97th percentile) and posted 0.24 EPA per snap (85th percentile). On dropbacks, Simpson and company generated 0.47 EPA per attempt (89th percentile). Wisconsin’s defense mustered just a 4% havoc rate, which landed in the 6th percentile nationally. The only sliver of competence was against the run, where Alabama finished at minus-0.10 EPA per carry (31st percentile). But that stat comes with an asterisk: Alabama didn’t need the ground game when the passing attack carved Wisconsin up at will.
The coverage breakdowns were relentless. Ricardo Hallman had another uninspiring outing, targeted six times and allowing five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Omillio Agard was beaten on his lone target, a 43-yard touchdown. Geimere Latimer gave up three receptions on four targets for 128 yards and two scores. The middle linebackers didn’t fare any better: Christian Alliegro surrendered five catches on six targets, while Tackett Curtis allowed 4-for-4 on balls thrown his way.
The defensive miscues weren’t just about talent gaps. Fickell pointed to missed opportunities, particularly in the secondary, as a big surprise.
“I’m not saying I didn’t give the quarterback as much credit, but obviously he played really, really well today," Fickell said. "And we gave up big plays. The ability to handle some of those things and respond is what is key. The third down, you have a penalty, then you give them the ball back. Then I think two plays later they hit a dig for a touchdown. And that’s a little bit more of a surprise to me.
“I thought that the way we had played in the back end of our defense, in particular defensively, I thought that was going to give us a better opportunity to get that thing to the second half and find a way to put some pressure on them, in particular from the defensive side of the ball. And we weren’t able to do that.”
If there’s any faint positive, it’s that Wisconsin’s front seven looks better than it did a year ago, even if it’s still nowhere near Alabama’s level. The line held up against the run, allowing 72 yards rushing on 22 attempts (3.3 yards per carry) and showed incremental physicality. They also generated 16 total pressures as a unit, five from outside linebacker Mason Reiger and three from Darrell Peterson, plus Alliegro delivered the lone sack on a play where he trucked Alabama’s running back before finishing off Simpson.
Those are somewhat encouraging flashes, but that’s probably where the good news ends. The back end was shredded all game long, the tackling angles were poor, and Alabama dictated terms all afternoon.
When the dust settled, the Crimson Tide didn’t just beat Wisconsin’s defense — they made it look easy. This unit has a lot of room for growth, which is why I'm giving Mike Tressel and company a D- this week.
Special Teams: A-
If there was one phase that gave Wisconsin something to point to, it was special teams. Vinny Anthony II’s 95-yard kickoff return touchdown in the third quarter finally put the Badgers on the scoreboard and reminded everyone just how dangerous his track-level breakaway speed can be.
That was a legitimate NFL-caliber burst when he’s got a crease, and there's no doubt he can run with anybody, and Alabama found that out the hard way.
Beyond that, the operation was steady. Atticus Bertrams punted four times for a 45.8-yard average, including a long of 53 and one well-placed punt fielded at the 2-yard line. It’s hard to fully grade the punting because several came in situations where the game was already decided, but Bertrams largely looked sharp with his opportunities.
Kicker Nathanial Vakos connected on both of his extra point tries, though he never had the chance to attempt a field goal, let alone in a pressure spot.
The advanced numbers back up a good day, even if it was carried by one play in particular. Wisconsin’s special teams generated a total of 8.79 EPA, including 0.67 from punting and a whopping 8.12 on Anthony’s kickoff return. It's hard to ask for much more than that.
All told, this was one of the few areas where Wisconsin flashed any form of positivity. Anthony’s return was a legitimate game-breaking play, even if it was too late to matter. Bertrams looked solid, and nothing in the operation cost the Badgers' momentum. That earns an A- for the week.
“We've got to flush it pretty quick because there’s a lot to learn from," Fickell said. "No matter what, you’ve got to be able to put these games behind you. I tried to do some studying over the summer, knowing what this thing was going to look like, and a part of that competitive maturity had to do with me as well, being able to handle these situations and move forward.
“It’s not that we’re going to wash this thing away and forget about it, but we have to move on. And it’s not accepting losing or accepting playing the way we did, but it’s accepting the ability to correct it and move forward because the league starts and the season starts now.”
You can debate the root problem: coaching, personnel, or both. The reality is that Fickell’s job, which he's paid handsomely to do, is to identify and correct. He hasn’t done that in any meaningful way at Wisconsin.
"It is very challenging," Fickell admitted when asked about staying positive. "But I don't know where else to go. The truth of the matter is, we knew this was going to be a mountain to climb. And I don't just mean this game. I mean this this entire season... Don't get me wrong, we're going to tear this thing apart and move forward, but we cannot lose each other at any point in time. Not in a game, not in a half, not in a quarter, and sure as hell not in a season."
Next up, Wisconsin heads back to Camp Randall to open Big Ten play against Mike Locksley and the Maryland Terrapins. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, with the game airing live on NBC. Another chance, another test, and the climb doesn’t get any easier from here.
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Dillon Graff is far and away the most inciteful person out there commenting on Badger football. Anyway, since last year, I've become convinced that Fickell simply cannot successfully coach Big Ten football. He had a losing record at Ohio State for heaven's sake. Place him in a conference with a lot of easy marks and he's fine. Of immediate concern, however, if they don't handily beat Maryland at home next week while showing tremendous improvement on both sides of the ball (particularly in that horrible offensive line), we're staring at a not too pleasant remainder of the season.
All my Fickell supporters kept saying “wait till he gets his guys here.” Well these are his guys now and what we see on the field is not encouraging. We ripped Chryst for recruiting but I think he brought in better players than we’re getting now, including many now playing on Sunday.