For the first time in over two decades, the Wisconsin Badgers are not going to a bowl game; they are also ending the 2024 college football season without a winning record after doing so in each of the previous 22 campaigns, thanks to a massively disappointing 24-7 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Camp Randall Stadium on Friday.
Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell is understandably disappointed with how things worked out for the Badgers, who finished the season on a brutal five-game losing skid.
Luke Fickell speaks up after Wisconsin Badgers’ loss to Minnesota Golden Gophers
Two of those losses were against top-5 teams in Penn State Nittany Lions and Oregon Ducks, but failing to reach six wins in a non-Covid pandemic year since 2001 was still far from what Fickell and the Badgers had in mind when they set out for the 2024 season.
“I don’t want to point fingers. It’s on me,” Fickell said after the game (h/t Evan Flood of Badgers247). “It’s about getting the leadership into place and moving forward. There were a few weeks I really felt like we were getting better and better, and I mean that on both sides of the ball, within our locker room.
“I can’t say exactly why, so I put it on me,” Fickell added
Wisconsin took a step back in Fickell’s second season with the Badgers, who went 7-6 in 2023 while also appearing in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Wisconsin’s offense mightily struggled against Minnesota, which held the Badgers to just 166 total yards while coming up with 374 of its own. The Badgers did not turn the ball over but were just 3-for-14 on third downs and coughed up just 36 rushing yards as they spent most of their time trying to catch the Golden Gophers.
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